New Journey
by dsk555
Summary: The sequel to Mega Trainer (/s/12543745/1/Mega-Trainer), please read it first. Seth, Soul and Sky embark on a new journey to the land of Sinnoh, looking to start fresh.
1. Chapter 0: Teaser (X)

Chp 0

"This is creepy..." Moon said, looking around the jungle in worry. The absol was afraid of what might be lurking in the brush, but she had no choice but to go forward. Behind her, something moved along the ground, hidden by grass and leaves, but was nigh silent.

She continued walking forward, utterly oblivious to the growing danger behind her. Suddenly, her rear legs were grabbed and pulled back by something strong, causing her to let out a startled yelp. She was dragged kicking and fighting by the unyielding force, into the jungle and through the overgrown flora. "Let me go!" She screamed as she was pulled.

Her wild ride eventually came to an end when she was pulled into a clearing, where a large venusaur took up most of the space. It was also the source of the vines now holding her in the air.

"Uhh... hi?" She said as she was hung upside down in front of him. More vines came out and wrapped around her limbs, before she was turned right side up. She tried to move, but all that happened was the vines spread her legs out further. "Could you please let me down? I'd like to _leave!"_ She said, her voice going up in pitch as the vines wrapped more around her, nearly covering all her legs in coils. "Hey, no hard feelings, right?" She whimpered, still trying to sound confident.

Then, more vines came out, but these ones were different. The ones on her body were rough, like they were made out of grass and leaves, and looked similar. The ones coming towards her were smooth, and covered in some kind of slimy substance. As the two neared, one went for her head, while the other snaked between her legs. She yelped quietly as the one between her legs began to rub her crotch, spreading its slippery slime over her white fur. The one at her small snout stared her in the eyes for a moment, waving back and forth. "Ugh," She grunted. "Don't-"

The moment she opened her mouth, the tip of the vine opened, reveal a penis shaped head, and then it darted forward and into her maw. She let out a muffled yell of surprise, but it did nothing to deter her captor. The vine was already covered in his sour juices, and the tip was spurting them, which forced her to swallow them down. The vine was just big enough that she couldn't spit around it, but that also meant it wouldn't be going down her throat either, which she was sure it would have tried. As more and more vine juice entered her belly, it began to take effect. A hot flush ran over her body, especially around her crotch, which was beginning to tingle.

"Atphodsac..." She mumbled, still mostly muffled and becoming light headed. Her struggles quickly ceased, and the vines loosened, no longer squeezing her, but still keeping her aloft. She couldn't help but murr as everything started to feel good, really good, too good almost. It made her feel like she was melting in a sea of pleasure. She hardly even noticed the vine teasing her canine pussy, hotdogging between her lips and getting her own juices on it.

"Saur!" The owner of the vines roared, and at the same time, the vine at her cunny dove in. Her face twisted in absolute ecstasy, and her eyes rolled back.

"SOOO GOOOOOD," She screamed when the vine in her mouth left. Her rear began to grind down into the thrusting vine as it probed her deepest reaches. Already it was making her squirt, soaking the vine-

"Hey, what are you doing?"

The human on the bed started, and turned off his pokedex. "Oh, hey Soul. What are you doing back here so soon?"

"Well, with Sky being sea sick, and you hiding in here, there isn't much to do around here. And they won't let me in the buffet without a trainer..."

"Alright, just let me go to the bathroom first, then we can go eat."

"Don't go jackin' off in there." The absol said with a snicker while pointing to the obvious erection in the human's pants. "You know you don't have to look at porn, right? I'll take care of your wildest fantasies~" She said, putting on a cute face and putting a paw to her chin.

"It's just fun to look around sometimes, you know. Anyways, I'll be out in a sec." Seth said.

Introducing

New Journey

Sequel to Mega Trainer


	2. Chapter 1: Travelling

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

A/N: Several things have changed, and they are critical to know for the following story. They are explained in this chapter, but not explicitly, so I'll do that here. Here they come, plain and simple. Eclipse, Eve, and the three eggs were all killed by Laura, Wisdom and Ferocity. Before Seth, Soul and Sky could recover, Mewtwo killed the last remaining members of team Purity. She then told Seth to go to Sinnoh to get stronger. With nothing left to lose, he and the girls left home.

If you haven't read the previous story, it might be a good idea. Otherwise, a quick character run down. Seth is a human pokemon hybrid, capable of (mega)evolving into any pokemon form he has had intimate contact with. This is caused by intense feeling, and he is capable of changing on his own. Soul is a standard Absol, who was Seth's first pokemon. Sky is an espeon with a blue gem. She was saved by Seth from an abusive trainer.

Chp 1: Traveling

"Alright, let's hit it." Seth said, coming back out of the bathroom. "You hungry?" He asked to the absol lying on the bed.

Soul raised her head. "Well duh, there's a reason I wanna hit the buffet. But those jerks won't let me in alone."

"Well me and you can go eat ourselves sick. It's been too long since we've gone out to eat."

"This isn't really out to eat. From what I've heard, cruises have the best food."

"This isn't really a cruise." He said, mocking her a bit. "We aren't exactly on vacation."

"Lighten up!" She said with a mountain of enthusiasm, while hopping of the bed. "We're going to a whole new place, so we are required to enjoy ourselves at least a bit."

"Yea... I guess. We'll see. Should be another day or two." He walked over to the wardrobe in their cabin and took a ball off his belt, before opening it, releasing an espeon into the room.

"Are we there yet?" Sky asked in a light voice. Her face immediately scrunched up and she dove to the ground, paws clutching her belly. "OGHH!" She groaned.

"It's not that bad, drama queen." Soul teased her.

"You know, you won't get used to the boat unless you stay out of your ball. Anyways, we were gonna go get some food. You wanna come?"

"Nooooooooo..." She moaned, now covering her face.

"Alright," Seth said, returned her to her ball. "So, ready?"

"Not yet." Soul walked over to him, shakily stood on her rear legs, and kissed him on the lips. "Now we can leave."

"I love you too." He said, before opening the door and leading the way into the hall.

The ship was not a cruise liner, but still larger than a yacht, so they did not have far to go to get to the buffet. There were about twenty to thirty cabins, and all the other stuff. Once they arrived in the meal hall, they claimed a table, where Seth set his pack. After that, they went to get some grub.

"Excuse me sir." An attendant said, tapping on Seth's shoulder. "You can't bring your pokemon to the food. Please leave them at your table."

"What's your problem?" Soul growled.

"Down girl. Go on back, and I'll bring you something."

"Chicken." She barked as she left.

Seth couldn't help but smile.

"She's a beautiful pokemon. We just can't have fur getting on the food. Is she a contest pokemon?" The attendant asked.

"No, she's just special." Seth said, turning back to piling up the two plates he had. Once he was satisfied he returned to the table, setting the tray on it. Soul immediately reached over and used her claws to drag her plate, with lots of fried chicken, closer. She immediately dug in, almost as if she was starving. "Shesh, don't choke."

"You're not my mom." She said, speeding up in defiance, looking like a wild beast.

Seth pulled over his plate, and looked at it. "Shit. Forgot my silverware." He stood and went back over to get it. As he walked back to the table, he noticed a few people staring at the ravenous absol. He felt a hot flash of embarrassment on his ears. He sat down and began to eat, looking almost refined in comparison to her.

"So, how are you feeling?" She asked once she raised her head.

He leaned forward and whispered. "You know we can't talk right now. Normal people don't have conversations with their pokemon."

"Well, you're not really normal. I mean, we are an interspecies couple. I'm just worried about you. It's not healthy to keep everything bottled up inside. After what happened..."

"I know." He said quietly, setting his fork down. He reached across the table and rubbed her head. He settled back into his seat and let out a heavy sigh. That was the end of that, for now at least. She had been worried about him for a while now.

Once they finished eating, they returned to their room, with a bit of extra food stashed away in plastic bags in case Sky wanted to eat.

"Okay, now we can talk." Soul said.

"I really don't want-"

"But you need to."

"I just feel like shit every time I think about it. I mean how could I not?"

"I know how you feel. I feel the same. But we still have long lives ahead of us. We have to move on. Just because it doesn't hurt, doesn't mean it doesn't matter."

"You have experience with this. How long did it take you the first time?"

"A while. But you have someone, I didn't!" Soul said, wetness welling up in her eyes. "I can't stand seeing you tear yourself apart!"

"I'm fine... Really." But his appearance said otherwise. He looked like a mountain man, face unkempt and clothes worn and faded, certainly not the sort to be on a intercontinental boat. The most startling thing were his eyes however. They looked dull, far-off, as if they had no life behind them, and under them, were large dark spots, the sockets sunken in.

"I'm here, and so is Sky, whenever you want to talk. Sometimes it's good to get things off your chest. Please, don't give up on me."

"I promise. It just... it still hurts. And I don't know what to do." He said, sitting on the bed and putting his head in his hands. She came up and licked the backs of his hands with her rough tongue. "I think I'm ready for bed."

"Want to mate tonight?" She asked gently.

"No, the walls are too thin." He gave as an excuse, but she knew better. They hadn't done anything sexual for over three months. Ever since... He got up and turned the lights off, before returning to the bed. Soul climbed in next to him and cuddled close to his side, resting her tail on his still clothed stomach, and her chin resting on his arm. He pulled the covers up over them, and idly stroked her side as he drifted off. The last thought to run through his head was, 'Hope there's no nightmares tonight...'

+++ (One month ago)

"So what will we name them?" Seth asked as he rubbed Soul's paw. There were three eggs sitting on the bed next to them.

"How can we do that before they're even hatched?" Soul asked as she held her eggs close.

"Well, I can already sense what they are. Female riolu, female absol and a male absol."

"You're spoiling the surprise." She teased. "How about Heart, Crescent and Blade."

"Sound's lovely." Seth kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"Why are groceries so expensive?" Soul asked as she walked alongside Seth.

"They're not that expensive. We've got six people to feed, and we go every week, so it's pretty reasonable. Besides, we're all strong enough to make plenty of money."

"I don't like you fighting. I don't know why. I'm the pokemon, and you're the trainer."

"I'm not your trainer. Besides, I'm half pokemon, so why can you fight but not me?"

"I dunno." She said, readjusting her head to keep the bag held on her horn from falling.

"What the..." He said as they crested the hill the house was on. The gate was open. So open that it was lying in the dirt, broken right off the hinges. He dropped the bags he was carrying. "Soul, come on!" He ran forward, body morphing as he transformed into a humanoid lucario. His clothes melded into his body, quickly replaced by fur. Soul passed him as she sprinted up the path to the house. The door was wide open. "You check the ground floor, I'll get the upstairs." Seth said, rounding the corner and going up the stairs, two at a time. "Sky! Eclipse! Eve! Laura!" He yelled out, but heard nothing. He went down the hall, looking in the first two rooms, but found nothing. When he entered the master bedroom...

The bed was a mess, sheets torn to shreds and lying around the room. In the middle of the room were two bodies, both severely damaged, one of a zoroark, and the other was a lucario. Behind them was a small crib with lots of soft material. On top of that were three broken eggs. Seth immediately turned away. He ran back downstairs and looked towards the kitchen. The glass sliding door that led back outside was shattered, and beyond that was Soul, next to a lavender mass. "Soul!" He ran up to her. "Sky, are you okay?" He asked the espeon lying on the ground.

"I'll make it." She was slowly removing shards of glass from her back with her psychic powers.

"What happened?" Seth said, falling to his knees next to her.

"Remember Laura's team? They came back. The gardevoir and the garchomp. She teamed up with them again. I was blasted out here, and then they went upstairs. I think they were looking for you."

"Seth? What did you find up there?" Soul asked.

"I... I..." His eyes were wide and his body was shaking.

+++ (Two weeks later)

Seth got up from the pokemon center bed and headed for the bathroom. It was the dead of night. He, Soul and Sky had been staying here ever since...

He entered the bathroom, fiddled around until he found the light, and flicked it on. Mewtwo was standing right in front of him. He hardly even flinched. "Hi..." He said quietly.

"Seth, I know what happened. I can imagine you are upset. I'm sorry, but I solved the problem. I cannot allow you to fight them."

"What did you..."

"I killed them."

Seth grimaced as his body transformed to a lucario. "How dare you?!" He growled.

"Calm down." Mewtwo held her hand up, locking him in place. "You would have killed yourself trying to avenge the deaths of your children and lovers. I saved your life, once again. You have no reason to stay in this region. I want you to get on a boat, and travel to Sinnoh. Explore that place and get stronger."

"Why should I?"

"You will." The lights flickered for a moment, and Mewtwo was gone.

Seth gasped and bolted upright in bed, startling Soul, who was lying next to him.

"Again?" She asked.

His heart was still racing. "Yeah... You know, you still haven't told me why you wanted to go to Sinnoh."

"You never told me why you didn't want to." She responded, rubbing his arm with a paw in an attempt to soothe him.

"I don't really see a reason to go anywhere. It doesn't matter where we are anymore..."

"That's why I wanted to come. We need to get away, do something new. It might help get you out of your funk."

"I'm sorry but... After what happened... How can I not be sad?"

"There's a difference between grief and depression. I was like you are now after my trainer died. I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did." Soul licked his cheek. He reached down and pulled her head closer, rubbing his chin against her. "Seriously though. You can be sad without it stopping your life."

"I'll try." He leaned back and closed his eyes again.


	3. Chapter 2: Arrival

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

Chp 2: Arrival

The SS Speedy let out a loud horn as it approached the port. An intercom started on board. "Attention passengers, we will be docking shortly in Canalave city. If you purchased a ticket to the Battle Zone, you will have time to..."

"Well, that's us." Seth said, tuning out the captain. He gathered the rest of their things in the suitcases, then made one for check of the cabin. "Alright."

Soul was fighting with one of the suitcases handles, trying to get a comfortable grip on it somehow, with her paws, or her teeth, or her horn.

"Here." Seth said, taking it from her. "We only have three suitcases. I can handle it."

"Don't come cryin' to me when your arms hurt." She said.

"Will do." He opened the door and exited into the hall. A bit later and they were stepping off the ship and onto dry land once again. He set one of the suitcases down and took out Sky's ball, releasing her.

She wobbled a bit and looked around. "Much better. So what are we doing?"

"Alright." He unzipped one of the front pockets on the suitcase and took out a guidebook. "We should get some supplies first, then we can go to Jubilife City." He shut the book and slid it into his jacket pocket. "This way." He said. He guided his team through the port city's streets, before they crossed a bridge to the other side of town. As they crossed the bridge, he noticed Sky constantly looking down. "You really hate being over water don't you?"

"Yes..."

He picked up the pace to get off the bridge as fast as possible. Once they were in the western half of town, he turned to walk south, but someone called.

"Hey, sonny!" An old man yelled.

"Can I help you?" Seth said, turning to face him. He was standing in front of an old looking building.

"Interest you in a room for the night?"

"Sorry, but I'm not staying in town. Thanks anyway." Seth said, returning to his path. A short time later, they arrived at the poke mart. Being a big town, the mart here was equally big, catering to both tourists and sailors. He stepped through the automatic doors and into the air-conditioned building. He moved to one of the aisles, looking at the signs to find traveling gear. Once there, he picked out a new backpack, and other tools they might need. The main difference here though, was that Sinnoh was much more civilized than his home. In Sinnoh, you could never be more than a day away from a town. He went to a few other aisles, getting some pokechow, snack nuts, and dried meats, and some medicine. "Alright. Let's check out."

"What about our suitcases?" Sky asked.

Seth looked around to make sure no one was looking. "I got a plan for that. We never did end up using the item storage system back home."

"Item storage?" She asked.

"You'll see." He said, walking towards the check out.

Once that was done, they went over to the pokemon center. Inside, Seth went up to the PC.

"Oh, I remember these damn things. My old trainer used to use them to warp her pokemon around. Good thing you never had too many pokemon." Soul said. Seth reached over and rubbed her head. He stopped for a moment to unload some essentials, before setting his suitcases on the pad next to the PC. With a button press, they were converted and stored in his account.

"I love technology." He murmured. "Now that I don't have that giant pack to carry everything, I can actually use these. Alright, time to hit the road." He stretched his arms above his head, groaning as he stretched. Once he finished, he reached down and patted both of the pokemon's heads. They then left the pokemon center, and left town, entering route 218.

To the right was a patch of grass and trees, while the path went off to the left. As they walked, Soul spoke up. "Why don't we get a new team together?" She suggested.

Seth looked around to make sure no one was watching before he responded. "Because you two are more than enough for me. And I can fight in a pinch. We're fine as is." He explained. "What are you planning?"

"Oh, nothing~" She said sarcastically.

"Yeah right." He said. Up ahead, they came to a small dock. "According to the guide book, this ferry was only established in the last few years. Before then, the only way to get across was by swimming or riding a pokemon. Wow, that must have sucked." He sat down on one of the wooden benches, and looked out, seeing the boat coming in the distance. He looked down to see Sky shivering. "You gonna be okay?"

"No..." She whined.

"Alright, hop up." He said, patting his lap. "Unless you wanna go in your ball."

She grimaced and jumped into his lap.

He took out his trainer card and handed it to Soul. "You're in charge of paying."

"Mm-hmm." She said, taking it into her mouth carefully.

Once the boat arrived, he stood, holding Sky in his arms, with her head propped over his shoulder. The boatman gave him an odd look.

"She gets seasick." Seth explained. Soul approached the man and gave him the card.

"Thanks..." He said, wiping off the spit on it before swiping it and giving it back to the absol. She trotted away and went back to Seth's side, who had sat down. After a few minutes, the ferry started up again, and they were whisked across the water.

Once they arrived, he was among the first of the few people on board to step off. There were also several other people waiting to get on. Seth carefully set the espeon back down once they were on dry land, before ruffling her fur.

"Thank you." She said.

"Jubilife or bust." He said while cracking his knuckles. They got back on the move. The large city was just ahead, through a gate. Large buildings could be seen on the other side. Once they passed through, they were immediately plunged into a busy street, filled with people. To the sides of the streets were stalls and performers. As they navigated the sea of people, they took time to look at a few stalls. They had many pokemon themed items, from drifloon balloons, to jigglypuff shaped hard candy.

"Seems like some kinda festival." Soul guessed as they continued.

They eventually made it to main street, but a barricade was set up, preventing any further progress. The reason for it was plain to see. In front of them was a parade featuring many pokemon themed floats. The most grand was a garchomp float. On it was a real garchomp, alongside a blond woman in black. Based on the crowds cheers, she was named Cynthia. People really seemed to like her. "C'mon, let's see what else there is. Might as well enjoy this." Seth said. He looked down to see the girls. Or one of them at least. Sky looked back up at him, then followed his gaze to her side, where a certain absol was missing. "Oh shit..." He muttered. He motioned for her to follow and left the crowd, escaping to a small area with a fountain. It was less compact than the street, but there were still plenty of people.

He sat down, back against the marble fountain, and sighed. "She'll be fine. She'll turn up on her own, so we should just chill here."

Soul trotted off while Seth was distracted. She had a plan, and she was going to find something to kick start it. Most people allowed her slender frame to pass, so she lithely swam through the crowd. She zigzagged back and forth across the street, seeing what each stall had to offer, keeping an eye out for pamphlets. In front of a large building were three clowns. Once she turned her attention away from them, she spotted a small stall, with many pamphlets. She approached and she saw what she was looking for. The guy at the stand was without any patrons. She had to get his attention by standing up onto the stall. She motioned her paw towards a slip of paper.

"A brochure? Sure, why not." He said, offering one to her. She took it in her mouth and trotted off happily.

"Oh, there you are." Seth said once Soul emerged from the crowd and approached him. "What?" He asked, pointing to the paper in her mouth.

"Read." She ordered after he took it.

He unfolded it, revealing a display of eight badges, and the respective towns that held the gyms that gave them out. "What about it?" He asked.

"I'd say she was trying to tell you something." A female voice said. A girl about his age, looking twenty or so, approached and sat next to him. She was wearing jeans and a black shirt with a sparkly pink heart on it. "Nice day isn't it." She offered her hand.

He took it and shook it gently, careful not to hurt her with his hybrid strength. Ever since he had started transforming and training, his body had been getting much stronger. He liked to imagine he could take down those balloon looking body builders. To his surprise, she was the one to squeeze hard. "Hah, wuss." She said jokingly.

"And who are you?" He asked.

"It's a secret. I'm incognito right now." She whispered, putting a finger to her lips. "You can call me Allie."

"Alright, and how can I help you, Allie?"

"I'm not here for help." She said. "I noticed your absol walking like she had a purpose, so I followed her. Based on that," She pointed at the brochure. "She wants to take on the league. I'd recommend it. It's a fun time."

"I really don't want to put my pokemon through battles like that."

"Almost no pokemon are ever injured in a gym battle. What seems cruel to us is exercise and playful to them." She reached over and played with Sky's ears. Sky closed her eyes and nuzzled into the stroking.

"Yeah, come on, it'll give us something to do, and get your mind off of things." Soul said.

"See? She agrees with me." Allie said.

"Can you understand her?" Seth asked.

"I wish. No, I'm just good with pokemon. Been around them all my life after all."

"Oh. Sky? What about you?"

She looked down. "I don't know... If it'll make you feel better..." She looked up with puppy dog eyes. "I can't stand to see you so depressed."

Seth took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "Alright." He said quietly.

"I think I'll leave you alone." Allie said. She stood and walked away, disappearing back into the streets.

"Let's go find a place for the night, and we can talk about this more." He rose and began the journey to find the pokemon center.

They eventually found it by spotting the red roof. Behind it was a large building, presumably a hotel. He entered, and as soon as the doors closed behind him, it was a night and day difference in volume. Outside, the sound was a roar, but in here, it was much quieter. There were hardly any people or pokemon here. "Hi, can I get a room?" He asked the nurse on duty.

"Yes, of course." She said. She looked down at her computer and typed for a moment. "20,000 poke for a night."

"20,000!?" Seth exclaimed. "That's insane!"

"I'm not the one who sets prices. Sorry. This center doesn't have any lodgings so instead we're partnered with the local hotel. And the pokeday festival always drives up the costs on everything." She explained.

"Alright." He said. "Better than nothing." He handed her his card. He winced when she swiped it and the funds were taken from his account. She handed his card back, along with a packet containing a couple of keycards, marked 426. "Thank you." He said before stepping away. "Fourth floor, room 26."

After an elevator ride and a walk down the hall, they arrived at their room. Seth swiped the card and opened the door. He immediately went inside, dropped his backpack, and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the girls. "Are you two serious?" He asked.

They both nodded. Soul said, "It's something to get your mind off of things. You don't have to forget, but stop being so depressed." She smacked his knee, then jumped onto the bed. "You've had plenty of time to mourn, now get back to living!" She yelled, poking him in the chest with a sharp claw.

He brought up a hand and placed it over the spot which still stung. "I-"

"No! You need to hear what I have to say. When I was young, I was captured by a female trainer. Her name was Jessica. I was one of her huge team. Just another cog in the machine. Despite that, she really cared for each and every one of us. She even bred some of us, me included. I never even saw the pups. After a while, I was put on her top team. We only got closer after that. She was my friend, no matter what. But then, one day... We were out in the woods, and she never walked with us out. From what I can gather, another human tried to rob her, and ended up shooting her. With her last breaths, she released every pokemon she had on her. At the time, we were only going on a walk, so she only had me and a houndoom. We fucked once, and then parted ways. I was just so angry, at every human for what they did to her, my best fucking friend!" Soul shouted, tears running down her face. She took a moment to compose herself. "And if I had held that grudge, I never would have met you. Life goes on."

Seth reached over and held her while she let out a few more shuddering crying breathes, before she recovered. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "But..."

"No buts. I miss them too. Sky, talk to him."

"I... well, I sense emotions stronger... and you're surrounded by black and blue. It's both scary and sad. It's destroying you. I just want us to be happy again." She whined.

He lowered his head, putting it in his hands. "I'm sorry." He said after a long period of silence. "We can do the gym challenges, but..." He raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot and watery. "I'll try to be better, but I can't just flip a switch and be happy." He moved around, swiveling on the bed and crawling up towards the pillows. He lifted the blanket and burrowed under it, lifting it over his head. "I'm gonna go to bed early." He said from under the covers. The window was still open with early evening sunlight coming in.

"Alright..." Soul said, hopping off the bed, landing with a thump on the floor.

"Soul..." Sky whispered. Her ears twitched, and she pointed her forked tail at the lump in the bed.

The bulge was quivering and a faint sniffling sound could be heard. Both of the girls silently agreed and got onto the bed, one on either side of Seth. They fell asleep like that, with the lights still on.


	4. Chapter 3: Decision

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

Chp 3: Decision

Seth's eyes fluttered open as he felt something prickly and wet running over his cheek. His hand reflexively went up and rubbed his face, feeling the stubble there on his palm, and soft fur on the back. He looked over to see Soul close by, the source of the lick.

"Morning." He croaked. His voice was hoarse.

"Ready to head out?" Soul asked, smiling excitedly.

Seth snorted loudly, his nose a bit stopped up, and rubbed his eyes. "Gimme a bit. I'm getting in the shower." The room they were in only had a single bed, and he could feel the weight of Sky sitting on the other side of it. Soul was on the floor right next to him. She stepped back a bit to avoid being bapped by the swinging sheet as Seth moved it to get up. He was still fully clothed from last night. As he got up and moved across the room, he peeled off the dirty clothes and dropped them haphazardly along the way. When he entered the small bathroom, he didn't bother to close the door, and got into the shower stall, before starting it. A few moments after the water started to flow, the curtain opened behind him, and someone stepped in. "Hey Sky." He said, not even needing to look.

"Are you okay?" The espeon asked.

"I don't even know anymore..." He ducked his head under the water.

"I don't either. That's what worries me. You have so many emotions floating around inside. It is almost like a storm." She said. She walked around him to get some water on her fur. He could see the worried expression on her face.

He reached down and rubbed her chin. She nuzzled into it. "That sounds about right." Over the sound of the shower, voices could be heard. Soul must have found the remote. Ever since she figured out how to work a TV alone, she had been a menace. "I just don't know what to do... Everything just feels... I dunno, wrong." He said, leaning against the wall.

"You don't have to go along with this if you don't want to." She explained, nuzzling his leg.

"I really don't, but I do want to make you both happy again. If this is what it takes, oh well. The pokemon league awaits." He reached over her and turned off the water. "Come 'ere, I'll dry you off." He said, reached out and grabbing a towel for Sky. Once he had gotten her to stop dripping, he wrapped the towel around her midsection to keep her warm. "Go on and get Soul up to speed. I'll be out in a sec."

"Alright." She said. But she did not immediately hop out of the tub. She placed a paw on his foot, and looked up at him. "We'll make it." She said. She held that look until he nodded. Now satisfied, she jumped out and he heard her pad away, out of the room. He reached out and got a towel for himself. He stopped to look at himself in the mirror.

Short and light black hair, a bit of stubble around the chin and sideburns. Enough that he needed to shave. His eyes were sunken in, dark rivets under them, adding to his disheveled look. Above that were two bright blue eyes, though they weren't too bright now. They looked dull. Below his face, he was certainly more muscular than he had been a year ago, but he hadn't trained in a while. He looked next to the sink and found a tiny can of shaving cream and a cheap disposable razor in a plastic bag.

A short time later, he emerged into the room, with a clean shaven face. Sky was sitting on the bed next to Soul. Soul immediately hopped up. "Alright, get dressed and let's go!"

"Calm down. We've still got some work to do."

She grumbled and sat back down, turning her attention to the TV again. Seth got back onto the bed, allowing the girls enough room at the foot to relax. He took his pokedex off the nightstand and turned it on. From what he understood, pokedex's used to only be for cataloguing pokemon, but now, they did nearly anything. He opened the internet browser, had to connect to the hotel wireless, and then began to research.

The Sinnoh league was much more structured than the one he was familiar with. You could sign up at any gym, but you had to fight through each gym in order. And, they had come up with a new system, where the gym leader would have a large set of pokemon with different power, so they could fight any trainer on an equal standing. Oreburgh with rock, Eterna with grass, Veilstone with fighting, Pastoria with water, Hearthome with ghost, Canalave with steel, Snowpoint with ice, and Sunyshore with Electric. None of the gyms looked like a problem. Some would be hard for one girl, but the other had a type advantage there.

He switched over to a map, and found directions. "Straight east, and through a short cave, then we'll be in Oreburgh City."

"Okay, alright, we'll go after this show. Office Aura just started." Soul said, waving her tail dismissively at him. "Damn." She said as it suddenly went to commercial on a cliffhanger. She had been watching a comedy about a lucario, capable of speech, getting an office job. A couple of commercials went through, until sad music started. "Oh shit..." She said.

"Hi, I represent the shelter for abandoned pokemon, right here in Sinnoh. Ever since the Great Migration, cruel trainers have been leaving their pokemon for more exotic ones." The lady held up a mangy poochyena. It was missing an eye. "Please, we need your help. Come make a new friend. They need you. Hearthome Shelter for Abandoned Pokemon."

"Fuck off!" Soul yelled, swatting a paw through the air. "You ruin everything!" The commercial ended and she returned to her show.

Seth looked back down at his dex. He zoomed out the map and plotted out a course to the next couple towns. It didn't look too hard to get around. He returned to the dex's home, and activated the scanner. He pointed it at the girls, who remained unaware as they both watched TV. A moment later, two entries came up. Each had a description of moves the girls knew and graphs of their strength. The league here imposed the four move limit on battles, so he would have to pick them out carefully before each match. The girls were both plenty strong, in both stats and practice. And he could always fight... but that would be too risky. Somebody could draw the connections and figure him out. This is for them anyways.

He got up and went around the room, picking up the few things that were his and packing them away. The room had its own mini PC, and he went over to it to withdraw one of his suitcases. It appeared on the pad next to the desk, and he took out some clothes, placing his old ones back inside. He then deposited the suitcase again. As he dropped his towel to get dressed, he noticed Soul eyeing him. "Down girl." He said jokingly. She smirked and looked back to her show.

Soon enough, the show ended. Soul was up and ready the moment the credits rolled. "Alright, time to hit the road."

They made it outside, checking out at the front desk on the way. Once they were outside, he lead the way up main street. The street was still dirty with the aftermath of yesterday, though there were a couple of people cleaning up. Once they reached the northern part of the city, the road split four ways. They took the eastern path, with a sign directing them to Oreburgh City. With that, they left the city, returning to the wilderness.

"Okay, it's a straight shot. We've got plenty of money, and you two are plenty strong, so we can just go. No need to look for a fight."

"I could do with a stretch. We haven't gotten much exercise lately." Soul said.

"Okay, we'll see what we can do. Speaking of which..." He said, pointing up ahead. There was a set of stairs built into the hill, leading up from the concrete path they were already on. Beyond that was grass and trees. But just in front of the stairs was a battle. It was between an arcanine and a rattata.

It was going about as one would expect. The young kid who owned the rat pokemon was getting dominated. The smug teen who had the arcanine gave the order. The arcanine looked down at the rat pokemon, nearly a sixth of his size, who was viciously gnawing at his paws, to little effect. He raised one of his titanic paws and as gently as possible batted the rattata away. The rattata rolled a few times before stopping belly up. It let out a noise and went limp.

"Kid, you're not good enough. Go home." The trainer said, flipping his brown hair out of the way. He had it so that it hung over his left eye. "Arcanine, come." He ordered. The large orange hound trotted back over to him and sat. "And who are you?" He asked, looking at Seth.

"Seth. You?"

"Call me Ace. I'm here to stop just anyone from making the league challenge. With the trainer school in Jubilife, kids always try to enter the league but they can never make it far. Easier to stop them here. So you want to pass?"

"Yes I do." Seth said with a smirk. "I assume that means you want a battle." Soul didn't even wait for an answer. She already stepped forward and took her place. The arcanine looked at her and growled fiercely as he moved to his place with a predatory glare. "Get 'em." Seth gave the order.

Soul roared in her native tongue, raising her horn to the sky. A silver sheen ran over it. Arcanine did similar, howling at the sky, causing the sunlight to brighten around them. Before Soul could make a move, Arcanine vanished in a puff of dust. A trail suddenly appeared, leading to Soul, where Arcanine now was. He tackled her at high speed, knocking her off balance and sending her skidding. She tried to use her claws to stop it, but the pavement was unyielding. When she did stop, she leapt forward, swinging her claws down as they radiated dark energy. It left a jagged trail through the air as it cut into Arcanine, sending him back a couple inches. As this was a battle, neither were putting harm into their attacks, so all it really did was sting a bit. The pain was barely above an itch. Had she wanted him dead, that attack would have cleaved him apart. He responded with his own attack, a fire fang. They began a process of trading powerful blows, until Soul scored a critical hit, forcing Arcanine to leap back or be overwhelmed.

He jumped a few feet back, more flames already coming out of his mouth. This time he shot a blast of fire at her. Soul used her powerful legs to leap into the air and over it. She spun through the air, swinging her scythe shape tail down at him. The power of gravity increased the impact, and the attack grew in size with critical power. Arcanine saw it coming, and his body tried to backpedal instinctually, but he realized too late that he was only ducking down, instead of getting out of the way. As she released the built up power, she created a wicked trail of darkness through the air. It struck Arcanine, hitting him into the ground. His head hit the dirt, leaving a bruise on his chin.

"GAH!" Seth yelled. The fire blast had come right at him at blinding speed. He had been too focused on watching Soul fight, that when she dodged, he was face to face with a wall of fire, with no time to react. It exploded in a shower of flame.

"Seth!" Sky yelped. Seth dived forward, rolling like he had always been taught as a kid. The flame quickly died out. Seth felt no serious pain, but he was sweating and his skin was tingling and red. He carefully touched the exposed skin of his arms to make sure he was okay.

"Oh shit, are you alright?" Ace asked, running over.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Seth said, standing and brushing off his clothes. He shivered at the feeling coursing through his body. It was like his entire body had fallen asleep with the tingling. He had to stop for a moment to calm his breathing. "Fine." He said again. He looked down to see Sky next to him, and Soul just behind Ace. He reached over and brushed his thumb against the blue colored gem on the Espeon's head.

"I'm sorry master." Arcanine groaned, covering his head with his large paws. Ace turned at the sound of his hound whimpering.

He walked over and patted him on the head. "C'mon, get up. This guy's strong, too strong for us. Here." He reached into his coat pocket and took out a potion, spraying it over Arcanine. He looked back at Seth. "You're certainly worthy to challenge the league. Go on ahead." He held out his trainer card. Seth approached and allowed him to swipe the card in his pokedex, transferring the prize money.

"So tell me one thing. Why stand guard here?"

"Well, Volkner, one of the gym leaders, is my friend. He always complains about how weak most trainers are, so I thought I'd help him out. I consider it my job to weed out the newbies before they start challenging gyms. A few years ago, gyms were for training, but nowadays the gym leaders are all really strong. Even if they use weaker pokemon, their experience alone beats most kids who try. And me and Arcanine get some practice before we take on the league." He smirked as he stroked the fire dog's mane. "Anyways, go on ahead. You might just give Roark a run for his money."

"Thanks." Seth nodded. The girls came up behind him and they got on the move again. They transitioned onto grass, and as they walked, there was kid looking for pokemon. The kid looked over, but when he saw the two pokemon behind Seth, he immediately looked away.

"There's a bunch of kids. Since when did pokemon training become so easy?" Soul asked.

"Well, this is one of the two paths to the first gym, so I would assume all the rookies are around here. As for the age, the league here has been running for way longer than back home. It's a lot safer to be a trainer here." Seth explained.

"I've already noticed that." Sky said. "There are many more trainers out here, and it's more developed than the other paths. If we stay on the path, it's like we never left town."

"Yeah, well, here's the cave, so we'll see about that." Seth said. They stepped through the hole in the wall and into the cave. As they entered, a loud screech sounded out from inside. "I swear to god." Seth muttered.

"What?" Soul asked.

He just shook his head. The cave was mostly a straight shot to the other end. They could already see the end of the tunnel in the distance. However, just after the entrance, there was a ninety degree turn, with a slope leading deeper into the cave. It was plenty bright, though not as bright as the sun. Lights were attached to the walls further in. They kept going, until another screech sounded out. Seth looked up to see something moving. "Shit!" He yelled. "Run!"

On the ceiling, several forms detached, dropping down and diving at the group. Seth couldn't understand them, as all they did was screech, but that would have made it scarier. The swarm of zubat chased them from the cave. Seth was screaming, and Soul was laughing at him. They made it out of the cave, and the zubat swarmed around the entrance, before darting back into the cave.

"Shit! Fuck!" Seth swore, leaning on his knees. "I hate those damn things!"

"AHH!" Soul shouted, jumping at him. He flinched and fell on his ass. This caused her to burst into laughter again. "You big baby!"

"It's not funny." He said. "Zubat are evil!" He reached back to rub his rear. The stony ground was not very forgiving. He looked over to Sky to see her covering her mouth with a paw, presumably smiling underneath. He took a couple deep breaths before getting up. "Whatever. We made it. Oreburgh City." He said, looking down to the rugged mining city.


	5. Chapter 4: Oreburgh

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

Chp 4: Oreburgh

"So this is the Oreburgh gym." Seth said, looking at the imposing building. "Everybody ready?"

"We should practice more first." Sky said. "Surely we aren't ready for a gym yet."

"Don't call me Shirley." Soul joked. "But I have to agree with her. I still feel rusty."

"Excuse me!" Seth yelled at a nearby pedestrian. He ran over to them now that he had their attention. It was a scruffy looking guy, with stained overalls and a miners helmet. "Could you tell me if there are any good places to train around here?"

"A trainer?" He asked, motioning towards the girls. "In that case, you're after Roark I bet. The town mines are open to trainers. The workers there are always ready to take a break for a battle. It's just around the bend." He turned and showed Seth the way.

"Alright, thanks." Seth said. He looked back at the girls. "Let's go to the pokemon center first." The signature red roofed building was close by. As the doors slid open when they approached, a cacophony of noises blasted out.

The center was packed with a vast assortment of trainers. They sat all around, some with pokemon out, some not, others in line for the nurse...

"Shit." Seth said. "No choice..." He muttered as he got in line. He'd guess there were twenty to thirty people in here, around half of which were in the line.

Five minutes passed. Soul had taken to tapping and scrapping her claws on the linoleum floor in search of some kind of entertainment. Sky was waving her tails and bobbing her head as she quietly hummed an unknown song, the sound almost lost in the roar of the crowd. Seth was restless, but had no real outlet. Instead he kept watching the front of the line. Only three more people. Two, one.

"Next." The nurse called. Seth stepped forward.

"I'd like to get a room."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do." She looked down at her computer. Eventually she looked back up. "You're in luck. Rooms are filling up fast." She leaned over and pulled a pack of keycards out from under the desk. "May I see your trainer card?" He gave it to her. She looked at it and handed it back, along with the keycards.

"No charge?"

"Of course not. All pokemon center services are free to trainers. Are you not a local?"

"No, I'm from the Daedris region. I just arrived here."

"Ah, I see. Welcome to Sinnoh. Would you like to recover your pokemon?"

Seth looked down at the absol by his side.

Soul shook her head. "Nah, that arcanine was a pushover."

"No, thank you." Seth said, getting out of the way so the next person could take his place. He looked down at the packet in his hand. 316 was written on it. He went to the stairs, and up to the third floor. Based on the numbers on the wall, there were twenty room on this floor, and the same on the second. The first floor had the nurse's station, and the PC. There was ample free space and chairs for trainers to take a break in, as well as free phones. Behind the nurse's station was a small care unit for more serious injuries. Back in Seth's home region, pokemon centers were a local business, and funded themselves through charging trainers. Here in Sinnoh, they were much smaller, but were free, being funded through taxes. Seth swiped his card and opened the door.

"So what happened to training?" Soul asked.

"That's the plan, but I need to take a dump first." He said, leaving his pack on the floor as he slipped into the bathroom and shut the door. After he had settled on the toilet, he heard a knock on the door.

"Why do you close the door?" Soul asked from outside. "It's not like we don't know how you look naked."

"It's a private thing. Can you not right now?" He asked, a bit flustered.

"Well what about training? We're going to the mine aren't we?"

"Hell no!" He said. "That place is probably infested with zubat. We'll find a spot to spar on our own. We'll talk when I get out, alright?"

A short time later, he left the restroom. Soul had turned on the TV. "Finally." She said. "There's nothing on." The TV was currently on a history show.

"Six years ago, Team Galactic terrorized Sinnoh. A small group of skilled trainers brought them down, including such people as the elite four themselves. Sinnoh has known nothing but peace and prosperity since those dark days." The voice over said. It was stopped when Soul turned it off.

"Alright, so we're gonna find a spot, not in a cave, and private, and we'll train there."

"Finding a private spot in the mountains might be hard..." Sky said.

"I've got a plan." Seth reassured her. "Let's get moving."

They left the center and headed to the north, directly away from the mine. They soon found their way to route 207. Once they got there, they were surrounded by mountains, one long chain to the east. The chain of mountains were all connected, the tallest peak near the clouds. Seth took some time to look around.

"Alright. Keep an eye on this." He said, setting down his backpack. He brought up his hands and cracked his knuckles as veins bulged from his neck. Incredibly rapidly, his clothes began to merge into his body as thick brown fur replaced it. He shrunk down almost two feet and his ears migrated to his head, becoming almost as long as his much more slender body.

"Never seen you become a slutbunny." Soul said.

"Don't even. I hate this form." He said, shaking his lopunny head. "It makes me look girly." He suddenly stamped his feet, his powerful legs launching him up like springs. He bounced nearly twenty feet into the air. He looked around, before he plummeted back down. He winced when landing, and did it a few more times. "Okay, found a small crater, that way." He pointed towards the cliff face.

"And how are we supposed to get there?" Soul asked sassily.

Seth went over to his pack and took out their balls. Soul whined, giving him puppy dog eyes. "It's just for a second." He said, recalling her. It was awkward to hold the balls with his tiny paws. He put them back in the pocket. Pack in hand, he took a few bouncing steps, before launching into the air, landing at the top of the cliff.

Once there, he fumbled to release the girls again. The large tufts of fur around his paws made it hard. The mountainous terrain continued on, but just ahead there was a sizable crater, probably around ten feet wide. It wasn't too steep or deep, resembling a flat bowl. In that, they would be hidden from the everyday passerby, which was perfect for his idea. He released both of the girls in front of him. Sky immediately took an interest in the crater.

"Wow, what could have made this?" She exclaimed, rushing over to it and examining the edge.

"There's the Sky I remember." Soul said, following her.

Seth followed them as well, turning human again when he felt safe to do so. "Alright, so we're going to train. I'll be each of your opponents. One on one, with type disadvantage." He explained.

"First." Soul said, stepping forward. Seth closed his eyes for a moment and transformed into a lucario.

"I know this isn't your favorite form to fight, but my options are a bit limited. So we get in the pit, and I come at you. You have to defend, no fighting back. Maybe we can do something special for dinner if you both don't get hit at all."

"Don't you think that's not good training?" Soul asked.

"Well, I know both of you are plenty strong, this is just more of a warm-up, not training. And if we really go at it, I won't have the energy for Sky."

"Kay, let's go then." She got into the crater, and he was right behind her. They took up positions across from each other, then Sky whistled. Seth closed his eyes and held his paws together, like he was clutching a ball. He yelled and fired out a ball of aura at Soul. She was surprised, but kept her cool. Just before the hurtling balls of energy could hit her, she leapt into the air. She landed behind Seth, who turned to face her. The sphere kept going for a bit, before righting its trajectory, and coming towards them. Seth could feel his own aura approaching and stepped aside so it could past, but Soul did too, causing it to explode into the ground. "Since when could you do that?!" Soul asked through the cloud of dust. "I thought you lost your aura?"

"Well, that is what dad said, but after these got cut off," He reached up and touched the two stumps on his neck. On the other side were two tassels. "I wasn't able to use it for a while, but I've been practicing, and I think I can use aura again, but it is kinda hard. Either way..." He brought up a leg and slammed it into the ground. Soul dove out of the way.

"Come on, you're slow!" She teased. He rushed her, following her moves with forceful palm thrusts and punches. Soul fluidly moved around each blow, as if she could read his thoughts, all while a grin was plastered on her face. "You have gotten soft. But I'm still at the top of my game. For me, it's like riding a bike. I've been fighting all my life. You've been for... well, we met about uh... six months ago, and you stopped training about three months ago, but you've been training in secret since then..." She thought aloud while still avoiding him. Eventually his exhaustion caught up with him, and he fumbled a punch, not putting enough power into it. Soul took the opportunity and dove forward, tackling him down. She was breathing normally as she pinned the panting lucario to the ground. He didn't really have the energy to try and fight back.

"Ok then... you're ready."

"I knew that." She said, giving him a quick peck on the nose. She stepped off him and strutted out of the crater, with it now looking more rugged with cracks and holes. He rose shortly after, still panting lightly, and followed her.

"You'll have to wait a bit Sky." He told her. "Lunch time." He sat down and pulled his backpack over. He fiddled with the latch on top. "I feel for both of you. Paws are not easy to use."

"Why not go anthro?" Soul asked. She was sitting nearby, tail wagging slowly as she waited.

"That form isn't as strong as pure pokemon. At least that's how it feels." He managed to get it open, and he took out a three bowls. He also took out a bag of food pellets. "Sky, would you pour?"

"Sure." She said. The bag was enveloped in a blue glow as it lifted up and tipped over each of the bowls, filling them with pokechow. Once they all had some, the bag was set down, and they began to eat. Seth picked up his bowl and the girls ate with theirs on the ground.

"Since when do you like pokechow?" Soul asked after a bit.

"I dunno. It's not the best, but it's cheap so... And since when we're you the one concerned about food. That's my shtick." He asked with a raised eyebrow, or at least the lucario equivalent.

"Well with all that fancy human food, the good ones at least, I assume you'd be eating that." She said back.

"Well, if we kick the league's ass, we'll be rolling in cash. Fight hard and I'll buy whatever you want."

"You're gonna regret that." She snickered.

Seth stood and stretched. "You ready Sky?" He asked. Both of them had finished eating.

"Not really..."

"What's wrong?" He asked, kneeling next to her.

"I don't want to fight you." She said quietly.

He looked up and rubbed his neck. "Uhh... How about instead we do this." He closed his eyes and his body shrunk as it was blocked by a white light. It faded in less than a moment, revealing an umbreon. "Wanna try to break my dark type defenses?"

"That sounds better..." She rose.

"We can do it right here. Go ahead." He nodded, his red eyes telling her it was okay.

She closed hers and focused. It was hard to pick him up, the same with Soul, but he was there. She recognized what he felt like, even as a dark type. Then she tried to pierce his thoughts. Seth twitched as he felt her try to probe him. He focused his own thoughts at fighting her off. Psychic types were good at reading minds, dark types were good at protecting them. They were both bad at the other side of it however. She was forced out and back, mentally. She put in more force to her prodding, now trying to catch him up in a psychic attack. Near him, a couple pebbles shook, but he didn't budge. He grimaced as he tried to fought her powerful influence off.

"Are you two even doing anything?" Soul asked loudly. A small hole next to Seth exploded into dust, leaving an apple sized hole in the ground.

Sky looked at Soul sharply. "Yes. Do you mind?"

"Geez, sorry. It looked like you were just standing there." She laid down at the hard stone. "I'll just be going through your stuff." She said, reaching into the backpack and digging around.

The two eeveelutions went back to their own training. Sky began trying other ways in, some crack in his defense. After a while of trying, something changed.

"What are you doing with that?" He asked. She was too focused on this new weakness to find out what was going on.

"What? I'm just lookin'." Soul said.

"You're gonna break it. Claws don't work on the screen! And we don't have a connection, so you're gonna run up charges." Seth said worriedly. With his concentration shifted, and attention taken away from her, Sky had her window.

"Relax. I'm just taking a look at it." She said in a sing song voice.

"I've heard that before. Just put it down before you-" He took a step forward, but his body stopped halfway down. A thin flickering blue glow enclosed him and lifted him up about a foot. "Agh! Put me down!" He yelped. "She's gonna break it!"

Soul was too busy laughing at him squirming to keep playing with his pokedex. He tried to focus again and break her hold, but his thoughts were too panicked to fight back. He squirmed in her telekinetic grasp for a bit, until she set him down and let out a breath.

The moment he was down he darted over and snatched the pokedex away from Soul. "This thing was expensive! And if you break it, I have to replace all the data on it!" Now Soul was laughing at how important that little red toy was. She ended up rolling on her back as Seth cradled the dex, checking it carefully for damage. Until a blue glow engulfed her and lifted her up.

"H-h-hey!" She said, trying to contain her laughter. "I'm not some pushover!" She said. Suddenly, the psychic hold broke, and she dropped to the ground, landing on her feet. She stuck out her tongue. "Try again."

"So, I think that'll do. Let's go back into town. And dinner's on me."

"Nope... Nope... Nope... ugh..." Seth groaned in disgust. They were back at the room. "How can a town not have any restaurants?"

"Really?" Soul said. She didn't even turn around. She was busy watching TV. Now it was a show about a bunch of trainers and their pokemon living in an apartment. A comedy, as was her favorite.

"Well, there are two bars, but that's not really a place to get dinner. They got chicken wings and some other stuff, but they usually..." He looked up from his dex after hearing something move.

Soul was already down. "Well? Let's go already."

"Listen, it's not the kind of place you think. People go there for alcohol, not for food. It'll be nothing but drunk miners."

"I swear if they don't have boneless wings..." Soul threatened.

"You're not even listening..." Seth stated the obvious.

"Booth please." Seth said. The waitress, wearing a skimpy outfit, lead them to a clean table. The bar was bigger than Seth had expected. There was the actual bar, which was full, several tables on the floor, and booths along the walls.

He slid in on one side while the girls climbed into the other. Sky was on the inside and Soul on the outside. The waitress looked like she was going to say something, probably about pokemon in the booths, but she didn't. "What can I get you to drink? And bowls for your pokemon?" She asked.

"Please." He nodded. "Do they not allow pokemon here or something?"

"Oh, it's not that. We just try to avoid letting pokemon in. The miners always let their pokemon get drunk and wreck the place. As long as they behave, you'll be fine."

"Oh." He pointed to the girls. Soul tapped her claws at the drink list, at a fizzy lemon lime soda. Sky pointed with her tail at lemonade. "And could I get... how about a slushy, cherry."

"Would you like that alcoholic?"

"Please." He said.

"Alright. Be right back with those." She turned and left.

"Don't overkill it again." Soul warned him.

"I won't. Just one drink. So what do you both want?"

"Chicken wings, barbeque, boneless." Soul said.

"I could have guessed. Sky?" He asked.

"Uh, just these cheese sticks." She said, referencing the menu.

"Are you sure?" She nodded. "Okay, I'll get a burger." The waitress came back shortly, setting two bowls filled with liquid before each of the girls, and giving him a glass of red icy juice. He took a drink of it. It had a strong taste of alcohol, just what he wanted. He gave her their order, and she left again. "So, feeling ready for tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yep. I'm gonna kick some ass. That badge is ours."

"Sky?" Seth asked after a bit of silence.

"I think... I'm not really a fan of fighting, but... I'll go." She nodded.

"I know the feeling. I used to watch the league tournaments on TV all the time, but the idea of having my own pokemon fight... I couldn't stand the thought of letting them go through that. Now that I'm actually here... It doesn't seem so bad. I promise not to push you both too hard."

"Thank you for that." Sky said, smiling happily.

"There's a face I haven't seen in a while." She looked actually happy. He took another drink. "I'm sorry for what I've put you through. I was a real debbie downer. I feel... better, I guess."

Sky brought her paws up and rubbed her eyes. They were wet and red. "That means a lot.

"C'mon, cheer up. I don't want the waitress to think I made my pokemon cry."

She sniffled and composed herself. "Can I have a drink of that?"

"Have you ever drank before?"

"No..."

He slid his glass over. "Here, but be careful. It'll hit you a lot harder than me."

She took a sip and grimaced. "It tastes like medicine."

Soul leaned after and stole a sip for herself. She sucked nearly a third of the drink down. She licked her lips but made no comment.

"Gah. That was for me. I'll have to get another one by the time my food gets here."

"C'mon! Let's go challenge the gym right now!" Soul roared proudly.

"Soul, chill out." Seth said as he fiddled with the door. He swiped his card for the third time and it finally accepted, and the lock clicked open. "They're closed by now. I knew I shouldn't have let you have so much."

"Don't be such a spoilsport." She squeezed past him, and was on the bed with the remote in her paws before he even stepped inside. Seth stepped into their room, followed by Sky.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I don't know. I don't really feel anything..."

"That's fine. Everybody's a different drunk. I get mellow and relaxed, and Soul..." He turned back to the absol to see her bouncing on the bed as she watched TV. He crossed in front of her and got into the one bed. Sky hopped up with him on the other side. He stripped down to his underwear and got under the covers. He kept one arm out to play with Sky's ears.

"I'm so happy!" Sky suddenly cried. She buried her head into the covers over Seth's side and began to bawl. He wrapped an arm around her quivering body and pulled her over to hold. "I thought we'd never be happy! But we're still here!" Her words broke down into gibberish as she cried her eyes out.

"We're in for a night..." Seth mumbled. Soul was still blissfully watching TV, humming the theme song to the show she was watching, and waving her tail while tapping her paws on the bed. He gently picked up Sky and moved her on top of him, clutching her to his chest while she cried and muttered incoherently. Eventually, she calmed down. So much so that she fell asleep. "Soul..." He whispered, using his feet to get her attention. She turned, mouth already open and ready to spout something out. But she stopped when she saw the finger over his lips. "Light." He whispered, pointing to the switch. He then reached over and turned on the lamp next to the bed.

Soul got off the bed and hopped up to flip the light off. She returned by the light of the TV and lamp, while Seth carefully and slowly moved Sky off him and laid her down. Soul turned off the TV, and before Seth could wonder why, she turned and took Sky's place.

"Soul?" He asked. She didn't answer. Instead she dropped onto him, planting her lips on his in a deep kiss. It didn't last long though. She pulled back, looking down at him with starry eyes. "Soul... please... not tonight. I'm not ready yet." He told her.

Her expression sobered up. "Alright." He wrapped his arms around her and rolled over, onto his side, taking her with him. She ended up with her head resting on his arm, belly to belly, and with her paws wrapped around his back. He took a moment to flick off the lamp, before they both fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 5: Roark (X)

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

Chp 5: Roark

"Wake up."

Seth's eyes fluttered open. He felt Soul standing on top of him, and his eyes confirmed that. "What?"

"It's time to go." She said.

"What time is it?"

"A little after noon."

He started to sit up, and she moved to allow him to. "Okay, just let me brush my teeth and get cleaned up real quick."

"Before that, have anything for a headache?"

"Yeah." He opened his backpack and took out his toiletries bag. Inside it were also some pills, namely painkillers. He took out the bottle and turned it over to check the dosage for pokemon. He gave a pill to Soul. "Sky?" He looked over to find her at the foot of the bed. "You okay?"

"I feel fine. I didn't drink near as much as you two."

"Kay. And drink water." Seth told Soul. She groaned. "It'll make you feel better." He took his bag and went into the bathroom. He emerged a short time later. "Alright. Ready?"

"I was born ready." Soul said. Sky didn't look near as confident, but neither did she seem afraid.

Seth picked up his backpack, making sure that he had everything, and strapped it on. He reached up and ran a hand through his freshly combed and trimmed hair. "Here we go."

They soon arrived at the Oreburgh gym. "Leader: Roark, Type: Rock"

"Rock type... We should be fine. No type advantage on either side." Seth said as they stepped through the automatic doors. They found themselves in a small entry room. To either side were doors for spectators. To the left were restrooms, and to the right were two other rooms. In the center of the room was a desk, with an attendant behind it.

"Hello, how can I help you?" She asked.

"I'm here to battle." Seth said.

"May I see your trainer card?" Seth approached and placed it on the desk. "Everything is in order... You're in line. You may wait in that room over there. Refreshments may be purchased in that room." She pointed out both the rooms on the right wall.

"Thanks. Any word on the time?" He asked.

"Maybe an hour, maybe ten minutes. It depends on the other challengers."

Seth nodded and went into the waiting room. There were cushioned benches lining the walls, and a small area with fake grass for pokemon. Several flat screen TVs hung on the walls. The only one with volume was a feed of inside the gym. In Sinnoh, there were ten TV channels dedicated to the pokemon league. Eight of them were live broadcasts of the eight gyms, one for the league, and one for other pokemon battle media. Soul immediately broke off and went over to the play area, and hopped into the sandbox alongside a bidoof. Seth sat down on one of the benches, with Sky by his side. "I'm getting antsy." He said.

Ten minutes passed, as trainers came and left. Soon, Seth was sure he was next in line. He had been watching the TV in the meantime. Roark did use rock pokemon, the most common being geodude and a cranidos. The opponents were all weak though, lots of kids with rattata and bidoof. Soon his name was called over the intercom. He took a deep breath, waving Soul over. "Here we go."

He left the room and entered the arena. It was a large rectangular room, decorated with rocks and lit with hanging strings of mining lights. The ground was rocky, except for the stands and ring. The stands were on all sides, and had a scattering of people in them. It was the middle of a working day, so not too many people were present. In the center of the room was an arena, split into two sides.

On the far side was a man, presumably Roark. He was wearing a gray outfit with gold light reflectors, and a red hard hat atop his head. He was holding a folder in his hand and had a rolling cart filled with pokeballs beside him. He looked up as Seth approached. "Let's see... Seth, with two pokemon. You're here to show me your potential. But with such rare pokemon with you, it surprises me you don't have a single badge yet. Anyways, let's get started. How strong are you?"

"Uh... I-I don't really know?" Seth said, forcing himself to speak dispite how nervous he was. He had to lest his voice be drowned out by the crowd. There were tons of people watching him right now...

Roark smiled. "Don't worry. This isn't life or death. If you lose, you can always come back. In which case, I'll take a guess on your strength, based on your trainer history." He reached over and took three balls off the cart. Someone came over and wheeled it away. "Whenever you're ready."

Seth nodded.

"Go, Cradily!" Roark yelled, tossing out a ball. A green plant like pokemon appeared, with pink appendages around its neck.

"Sky, you're up first." Seth said. Sky walked forward, looking even more nervous than Seth felt. "Just ignore the crowd." He told her.

"Easier said than done." Soul said beside him.

The cradily moved forward a bit, and then the judge called the match. Sky's blue eyes and gem glowed briefly.

"Cradily, Swords Dance!" Cradily rose up on its hind legs, and waved its forelegs aggressively.

"Psychic!" Seth called. Sky glowed again, this time the glow covering Cradily. It lifted him up, spun him around, and slammed his head into the ground. He squirmed back up.

"Ingrain, then swords dance again!" Roark ordered. Cradily followed it, spearing its tendrils into the ground for nutrients.

Sky used psychic again, only battering Cradily, as he was rooted to the ground. After another swords dance and psychic, a blast of energy burst out from Cradily, the result of Sky's opening future sight. Cradily survived it, using swords dance once more.

"Stone Edge!" Roark said, pointing at Sky.

"Sky, jump now!" Seth yelled, seeing the danger. Sky did so, just in time, as a flower of rocky spikes bloomed out from under her. She didn't jump that high, but it was high enough to avoid the powerful move. She landed on the tip of one of the spikes, her small paws allowing her to stand gracefully on it. "Now-"

"Let me." She said. He stopped and allowed her to. Her eyes glowed once more, as two small orbs formed in front of her and Cradily. They swapped places, and with them, their powers. Cradily used giga drain, a wave of energy coming out of Sky and into him.

Sky raised her head and let out the cry of her species, before dashing forward, a yellow light covering her body. She hit Cradily head on, the energy bursting out in a flashy, sparkly explosion. When the air cleared, Cradily was on its side, with Sky standing triumphantly.

"Last resort, powered up by Cradily's sword dances... not effective but still powerful." Seth thought aloud. "Smart."

"Cradily has fainted!" The judge called.

"I knew I picked right." Roark said. "Tyrunt!" He tossed his next ball, releasing a small brown pokemon. The fossil pokemon chomped its powerful jaws a few times.

"Sky?" She nodded back at Seth. "Alright. You're in charge." He looked down at Soul to check on her. "Too bad she used all four moves already. She could have used dazzling gleam."

"What are you, some kind of expert?" Soul teased.

"I see you are especially skilled with pokemon. Few trainers can fight without words." Roark said from across the way.

"Begin!" The judge called.

Sky opened with the same, a future sight attack. Tyrunt charged forward, snapping his jaws, before leaping into the air. He soared toward Sky, and bit down with his powerful jaws. The dark type move crunched into Sky, hitting her hard. And Tyrunt stayed there, jaws clamped on Sky. She wrapped him up in a psychic attack, lifting him away and slamming him into the ground.

Tyrunt hopped right back up, and charged Sky again. "She's on her last legs, finish it!" Roark said. Sky tried to move, to avoid the jaws, but the little dragon was too fast, and he clamped down on her again. This time she cried out as her legs failed her and buckled.

"Sky, that's enough!" Seth called.

"Sky forfeits." The judge said.

Once Tyrunt let her go, Sky came back over to Seth. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

He kneeled down to pet her. "You did great." Back on the field, Tyrunt was suddenly knocked over as her future sight took effect. "Soul, you're up."

Soul grinned maliciously. "Finally." She said, strutting onto the battlefield. The moment the judge signaled to begin, she was on the move. She charged forward, meeting Tyrunt's own, and opened her maw wide. A beam of white ice shot out, fully enclosing Tyrunt's face. When the beam faded, the upper half of him was frozen. Tyrunt fell to the side. After a few moments, the judge called Soul the victor.

"Alright. You've made it this far." Roark said. "Go Rampardos! Let's see if you can win!"

"Soul, you-" Seth started.

"Begin!" The judge interrupted.

Soul was off in a blur, delivering an uppercut night slash, up Rampardos' body. The dark slash carved up his belly, but he hardly flinched. Instead he reared back and slammed his head down into Soul, smacking her away.

She hit the ground and rolled a couple times, before coming to a step and shakily standing. She stood her ground.

"Soul, use double team!" Seth ordered. She remained still.

"Another Rock Head." Roark said. Rampardos roared, aiming his skull at Soul as he began to charge.

"Soul!" Seth called. She remained still. Just before Rampardos could slam into her, she leapt back, as Rampardos smashed his head into the ground where she was, splintering the ground. He reared up again, ready for another, but he was stopped by what he saw. Soul had spun around, putting her rear in the air. Her tail was firmly planted between her legs. For a split second, it raised, giving a glimpse of blue skin, as hearts burst from her body. Rampardos' tongue fell out of his gaping maw, as he was dumbstruck. Seth blinked a few times, as he felt his pants tent a little.

"Rampardos! Fight it! C'mon we're so close!" Roark called, trying to get through to his pokemon.

Soul grinned again. She fired an ice beam along Rampardos' feet, and swung her horn in a wide swipe across his chest. He just stood there in a daze and took it. The force of the slash was strong enough to break the ice covering his feet and knock him onto his back. He was still a lusty daze. Soul climbed onto his chest, and swiped her claws over his throat. Were this in the wild, that would have been a fatal blow. In the restrained fights here, it was still a finisher. The blows damage on their stamina was related to the location. Rampardos went limp under her.

The judge counted off. "One... Two... Three... Rampardos has fainted. Trainer Seth is the winner!" He held up a flag in Seth's direction.

Roark recalled his pokemon, and walked forward, clapping slowly. "It's not very often that I get beat. Maybe one out of one hundred trainers." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge. He held it up, allowing it to glimmer in the light, before offering it to Seth.

"Wait, so I won?" Seth said, sounding a bit groggy. "She used attract. I thought that move was banned."

"Not here in Sinnoh. Move rulings vary from league to league. Most pokemon and trainers here are expected to be able to keep their pokemon from going wild."

Seth reached out and took the badge. "Thanks. That was fun."

"Likewise. Next up is the Eterna gym. I might just tune in to see how you do. You've got some real potential." Roark said with a nod, before turning to walk away. He stopped and turned back. "And keep your eyes on that one." He pointed to Soul. "She's a bit rowdy."

"A bit?" Seth said with a chuckle. He offered his hand, which Roark shook. He and the girls left back to the waiting room. On the way out, the attendant stopped him.

"Sir!" She called. "I saw your win. The prize money has been transferred to your account."

"Thanks." He said. Back outside, he kneeled down to confer with the girls. "How you feeling?"

"I feel great." Soul said.

"Exhausted." Sky said at the same time.

"Alright, let's go back the pokemon center. We've got plenty of time to get to the next city, which is... straight north."

After a quick healing stop, they left to the north, just like yesterday. The cliff only had one way up, a muddy slope. "Hmm..." Seth pondered.

Soul walked past him and began to scale the nearly 75 degree cliff. She easily climbed up it.

"What are you doing?" Seth asked.

"Climbing." She said plainly.

"I mean how and why?"

"Well, absol are a mountainous species, so I guess it's in my blood. And we need to go this way so..." She turned back to look down at them after reaching the top.

"Alright then, we'll do this the hard way." Seth reached into his backpack and took out a pair of sturdy gloves. He slipped them on and looked to Sky. "You want the ball or my back?"

"I'd rather ride." She said.

He knelt down and offered his back. She climbed on, wrapped her paws around him, and clung tight. "Alright, here we go." He approached the cliff and began to try to climb.

"Look for handholds, test them before you put all your weight on it." Soul instructed from above.

"Are you okay?" Sky asked from behind him as he climbed. They were about half way up, and making slow progress. "You keep shivering."

"Yeah. I think it's just nerves. We did just appear on live TV and win." He said.

"You're right..." She mumbled, sounding a bit awestruck.

"So everybody in Sinnoh saw your mate's naughty bits? If I were you I'd be pretty upset." Soul said from above. "Think about it. My cute little ass plastered all over the internet." She snickered.

"Sounds to me like you'd like that." He shot back. He was only a few feet below the top. A couple more reaches and his gloved hands grasped the rough edge. A couple more foot holds and he was all the way up. He kneeled down for a second and allowed Sky to climb off of his back. "North." He said again. "That way." He pointed to a building in the distance.

They walked that way, not spotting any other trainers on the way, until they reached said building. As they stepped into the gatehouse, a guard stopped them.

"Hold it!" He yelled. "You can't go this way without a bike!"

"Really? Why not?" Seth asked.

The guard tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't help cracking a smirk. "Hah, I'm just kidding. This is a highspeed bike path, so stay on the sidewalk." He explained. "Eterna city is on the other side." The guard looked back down to his newspaper.

Seth and the girls passed on, emerging onto a large concrete structure. In the middle was a road configuration, with painted lines, and along the sides were the aforementioned sidewalks. The road was too thin for cars however, so it was only for bikes. As they began walking, someone came roaring past, followed by a group of three who seemed to be racing.

"This place is weird." Seth said when no one was around. "Most places have space for pokemon battles, but this place has none. Unless they block the sidewalk or stand in the road."

"You ever think that maybe life doesn't revolve around pokemon battles?" Soul asked.

"Well, you would think. I've never seen anything that says otherwise. Battles are a fact of life. There's probably been battles since... well forever. And the landscape just kinda built up around that."

"History is stupid." Soul commented.

Soon, they arrived at the Eterna city gate. As they entered, they went right past the gym. Soul watched it go as they did.

"What's the deal?" She asked. But there were too many people around for him to respond. Soon it was apparent, as the red roofed pokemon center grew closer and closer.

He led the way inside, to the front desk. "I'd like a room." He said, producing his card. After getting checked in, he went up to his room. "I don't think we should do more than one gym a day. And it's getting late." Seth explained once they were inside. "So I think we'll call it a day." He set his pack at the foot of the bed and began to undress. Once he was in his underwear, he laid down, resting his head on the pillows. "Whew..." He sighed. "Why do I feel so tired? I didn't do anything."

Soul hopped onto the end of the bed. "Remote please." She said, patting the blanket. He grabbed it off the nightstand and tossed it to her, it landing just next to her. She flipped it over and carefully used her claws to press the buttons. The TV came on, and changed to the pokemon training channel, where it was showing highlights of the day. Across the bottom was a ribbon displaying the names and teams of victories at every gym.

"Do you know the odds of us showing up on there?" Seth asked. "It's not likely."

"Oh yeah? What does that say?" She asked sarcastically.

Across the bottom of the screen ran, "Seth - Soul the Absol and Sky the Espeon - Won vs Roark of Oreburgh."

"I meant the replays." He said.

Sky was sitting on the floor, her head just visible to Seth. Soul was lying just to the right of her, and he was to the right of that. As he watched the TV, his gaze occasionally went down as Soul's leathery blade tail waved slowly back and forth. Her limbs were neatly tucked under her as she laid on the bed. Nothing much to watch... until she stretched out. Her rear legs went back, lying sideways on the bed, in a position that would have hurt his hips. This put her cute blue paw pads on display. He wanted to reach out and touch them, as she was a bit ticklish around her paws, but he held back. Going up, he gazed along her white fur, seeing the small spike that was there... he would have normally looked back at the TV and left it at that, but he kept looking. Further up, her legs merged into her hips, and her position left what liad between them in plain view.

When aroused, her lips would be a blue teardrop, but currently they were hidden mostly by her fur, with only a small peek of blue visible. He found himself staring for longer than he usually would have. While he did love her, and was attracted to her sexual bits, sex was easy to come by, as she was seemingly always willing, but that had been the last thing on his mind for a while now. Now it was the only thing on his mind. His briefs began to tent as lustful thoughts pervaded his head.

A whistle broke the spell, causing him to look up at the source. Sky had likely sensed his arousal and had turned to investigate. "Are you okay?"

"No... I just kinda zoned out... almost like... an attract..." He said, out of breath for some reason. Both he and Sky looked at Soul.

"What?" She asked. "That was an hour ago. And it doesn't work on humans, so there."

"Well I'm only half human, so maybe it does work while I'm normal."

"Either way," She turned around, closing the distance. "You need that taken care of." She placed the palm of her paw over the bulge in his underwear. "Why do you even bother with these things? We both know what you look like without clothes."

"I dunno, why do you not shave your fur?"

"Never!" She hissed. "Now hold still." She turned perpendicular to him and brought her other paw into the mix. Dragging one claw up and the other down, she split his briefs down the middle. The strength of his boner did the rest of the work, casting the remnants aside to stand proud. "Now roll over here so Sky can join in."

"I can't really roll." He said, scooting over instead. "Sky, you don't have to if you don't want to. I already know how she feels." He said, motioning his head toward Soul.

"You're always telling me what I don't have to do." The espeon said. She went around the bed, on the right, and hopped up. Now Seth was in the middle. "I miss being intimate. As long as you're okay."

"I am. Just do whatever you want." He leaned back. "Any form requests?"

"Actually," Soul said. "As much as I would love your sexy absol form, how about you try to stay human? It could be a training exercise like you're so fond of."

"Alright. But we're only doing this to alleviate the attract right?" Seth asked. "Cause this thing kinda hurts, but otherwise I'm not in the mood."

"If that's what you wanna tell yourself." Soul said. She ground her paw against his now exposed head, before dragging the back of her paw down the length. Seth jolted at the feeling of her silky fur rubbing over his most sensitive flesh. "C'mon Sky, our master is suffering~" Soul purred.

Sky gave her an unconvinced look, before kneeling down. She began to lightly lick Seth with her tongue. It was large, broad and flat, somehow fitting in her mouth. Soul joined in herself. Her tongue was rougher, owing to her feline parts, but not enough to hurt. Seth groaned as he got into it, reached a paw down to rub both of the girls heads. Wait... paw? He looked down to see that he had indeed gained paws. Looking further down, the changes had started in three other areas: both his feet and his dick. His feet had grown fur, but didn't change much in shape, meaning that he was turning anthro. His tip had grown pointy, losing the ridge around it, while turning red in color. And that was slowly creeping down. The changes were occurring much slower than usual.

He swallowed heavily, focusing his efforts less on enjoying it, and more on halting the change. While it did work, it didn't stop it. The fur growth only slowed down. His member had already fully changed to a canine one. The fur around his crotch and limbs was light purple, almost lavender. "What are you becoming?" He heard Sky ask. He was too torn between the thoughts in his own head.

When his fur had grown around halfway up his arms and legs, he had to bit his lip lest the changes overwhelm him. This slowed it down more. Until Soul clenched a paw around her half of his knot, the tips of her claws barely touching him. He gave a very feminine sounding yelp and lost it, the changes instantly leaping up the rest of his body. Sky stopped her licking, and looked up.

"An..." Was all she managed to get out.

Soul took advantage of the opening to take his member into her maw. The hot and wet sucking threw Seth over the edge, his back arching as his canine penis began to spurt hot cum into her mouth. She tried to hold it all in, but she couldn't swallow fast enough, and ended up having to pull off or choke. She went for the former, which left his throbbing cock to shoot into the air. A spurt hit Sky right in the cheek, causing her to recoil in shock after the suddenness of his new transformation. She almost tumbled off the bed, but remained right on the edge. Still he keep pumping out cum, his body releasing all its pent up need. By the time he finished, there was a large puddle between his legs, and plenty in his fur.

"What did I-" He said, stopping in surprise as his voice had risen in pitch. It almost sounded like a girl, but it was a little too deep for that. He looked down at his body, seeing pinkish purple fur, somehow familiar. He felt something hard on his forehead, almost like his spikes in lucario form, and there was a long tail under him.

Sky was looking at him, with a genuine lust, something that was very rare for her.

"Sky?"

"An espeon." She finally said. She closed in and leapt onto his chest, snuggling into it. He reached down and grasped her writhing form.

"Alright, alright, we can cuddle later. I need a shower." He gently moved her off, having to use a lot more strength than usual. His muscles seemed to have weakened.

"I'll join you." She said. They both knew better than to ask Soul, who had already started licking herself clean.

In the bathroom, he turned on the water and got in, holding the curtain for Sky. He began to scrub the drying cum from himself, his short fur making it much easier.

"So what caused this one?" Sky asked.

"Want it to happen more?" He asked, perking an eyebrow.

"Well, yes. I think pokemon are wired to be more attracted to their own species."

"So, whenever I transform, into an eevee, I end up as an umbreon. I was trying to hold it back this time, so... Maybe it was you. Though that doesn't explain why I didn't change into an absol."

"Maybe it was because of the daytime? Espeon evolve from happiness during the day..."

"Well I turned into an umbreon yesterday, during the day."

"Your body is confusing." She said.

"I'll say. I wonder if I could turn into other eevee forms." He rubbed a paw at one of the tufts of fur hanging from his cheeks.

"Seth... can we talk, just the two of us?"

"Well sure. Go ahead."

"First, I want you to feel me." She said.

He reached out and touched her head. "Okay..."

"Not like that. Open your mind, reach out and touch me."

He closed his eyes and concentrated, feeling her presence right in front of him. "I think I got it."

"No... Just focus on this." She said.

He felt a tingling in his head, as she made a connection. Suddenly it all became much clearer. He felt her, really felt her. All her emotions and feelings were as clear as day, as if he was experiencing them himself. Not to say that they were simple, but they were relatable. He was able to focus in on that feeling, almost like with his aura.

"Alright." She said. Her feelings took a sharp decline, as sadness and worry filled her being. "Do you remember that day?" She felt him fill with sadness and regret. "I thought so. I never told you what all happened. Nothing could have changed it. I was in the kitchen when they broke in, and Laura was outside. She was the one who broke in the door. It was like she had no idea what she was about to do. She didn't care for us. Not once. I think she only stayed around for sex. She charged and kicked me through the glass door, and into the yard. I think that was what saved me. Then they went upstairs..." She hesitated. She was panicking at the memories. "I felt it. The fight upstairs. I tried to get up, but I couldn't move. Eclipse and Eve, they tried." She looked up, tears forming before being washed away. "They really tried to save the kids... but they weren't strong enough. And I couldn't do anything!" She cried, her voice sounding like he had never heard her sound. "You saved my life and I couldn't do anything for you!"

Seth was awestruck. His sadness was nothing compared to hers. He felt all of her pent up grieving coming out, and it was hitting him hard. He was crying too, unable to stop sniffling. He dropped to his knees and wrapped a hand around her, pulling her into his chest. She lost it, bawling loudly and shuddering in his grasp. "No wonder you've been quiet." He said slowly. "I failed you girls too. Only one week... that's all we had to live together after we bought that house."

"Don't put this all on yourself. You couldn't have known."

"And neither could you. Fuck..." He lowered his head, putting it between her ears and crying to match her.

After a good crying session, they both recovered. "I'm sorry I had to make you do that." She said, to which he made a confused noise. "A psychic connection like we just made amplifies emotions. I think it got to both of us."

"A good cry never hurt anybody." He kissed her on the gem. "We're still here, and we have to keep on living, for their sake. It would have made Eve cry to see us like this."

"I miss them." Sky said, leaning up and licking his gem.

"I do too."


	7. Chapter 6: Drew

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

Chp 6: Drew

"Remember our promise Sky."

"I will." She smiled.

"Alright then. Ready to hit the gym?"

"Promise? You two sneaking around behind my back?" Soul questioned.

"No, it's nothing." It was the next day. After their time in the shower, they had eaten dinner and gone to bed. Now rested and revitalized, they left the pokemon center, going south to the gym. Outside there was a sizable crowd. He excused his way to the front, to be met with a receptionist at the front door. "Um, what's going on here?"

"I'm sorry, but the gym is closed for now. The leader, Gardenia, always likes to take trips to the nearby forest. All you can really do is wait. If you'd like, I can go ahead and put you in line." She explained.

"No, that's alright." He said, leading the girls away from the gathered crowd.

"What now?" Soul asked.

"We're going huntin'. Maybe we can convince her to come back." He explained as they went back north. From there they headed to the west, around a small lake and into the forest. It was plenty obvious when they entered the forest, as one there was a sign, and two, the tree canopy grew much thicker, blocking out a lot of sunlight. They only took a few steps in, before seeing another sign, along with a white picket fence. "Old Chateau" It said. Just past the fence was a girl. She had brown hair and was wearing a revealing green outfit that screamed nature. "Excuse me!" Seth shouted.

"Yes?" She asked, turning and approaching through the grass.

"I'm looking for the gym leader, Gardenia I think? Have you seen her?"

"Of course, well, I haven't seen her, but I am her." She said, talking a mile a minute.

"Uh, ok." Seth said. "Will you come back to the gym?"

"Why? What time is it?" She took her pokedex out to check the time. "Oh! I'm sorry! I lost track of time!" She put it away and turned around. "Bye everybody!" She shouted, waving at the mansion in the distance. "I was here visiting the pokemon that live in this mansion. It was abandoned and we renovated it to be a sanctuary. Anyways, I'll go back now."

"Wait. Is there any way I can skip ahead in line? Like a reward for finding you?"

"Well, I wasn't exactly hiding, but if you do a couple of other things, sure. First, there's a pokemon here in the woods. It seems to have been abandoned. If you do something for him, adopt him, or convince him to move on, I dunno. Then, come back here, and find the rare pokemon that lives here. If you can get a picture of one, I'll put you right to the front." She said, while walking backwards away from him. He raised a hand to tell her to stop as she was about to run into a tree, but she spun around on one foot and nimbly moved back to the path.

"Okay then. So, which first?" Seth said once the chipper, fast talking girl was gone.

"This one." Soul said. "We're already here." She lead the way past the fence and towards the mansion. As the other two followed her, they say several warning signs. They had a pokeball on them, marked out with an X.

"Are you sure we should do this? We could just wait in line." Sky said.

"If a gym leader suggested we do something, we should probably do it. It'll prepare us to battle her. And from what I understand, gyms are ranked in order of strength, so it's only going to get harder. If we don't stop and train every now and again, we'll run up against a wall."

"I see. I would prefer to train against others. I can't stand hurting you or Soul."

"Yeah, I agree."

"Hurry it up!" Soul shouted. She was already waiting next to the front door. Neither of them sped up, leaving Soul pacing impatiently.

Once they were all grouped up, Soul once again led the way inside the mansion. The foyer was in good shape, all things considered. The structure itself was stable, with no cracks in the ceiling or walls. The floor was however torn up, with things planted into the open dirt. Large patches of pretty flowers and tall grass were dotted around the room. Vines grew over the walls and potted plants hung all around. There were a few feeders around, one with a trio of caterpie munching on the food inside. They all looked over to the new arrivals, but went back to eating without much fuss.

"This is a pokemon sanctuary alright." Seth said. "So rare pokemon. If I can just scan it with my pokedex, we're golden." He took the lead, going between the stairs and into the only other door on the ground floor. This took them into a dining room, with a large variety of potted plants strewn about. The floor was more intact here, though there was no table, only the wide open room.

"We're being watched." Sky said.

"Well, duh." Soul said. "There's pokemon everywhere."

"Shh." Seth whispered. He held a hand behind his ear. There was a faint noise coming from upstairs. "I can't tell of that's a pokemon or human." He took one more look around the room before turning around. "C'mon. Let's go investigate."

They went up the stairs, none of them creaked, and found themselves in a hallway. They followed the noise to one room, and Sky stopped Seth before he could go in.

"There is someone in there. Just one pokemon, I think." She explained.

"Well alright." Seth turned the corner and stopped dead when he entered the doorway. There was no door. The sound of static could be heard from outside. "Oh fuck no!" Seth shouted, turning and bolting back to the door to the foyer. "We're leaving!" He shouted back, before disappearing out the door.

"What was that about?" Soul asked. She looked into the room. The room was mostly bare, except for a TV sitting on the far wall. It had a static covered screen. "Sky?" She asked.

"I have no idea. But there's a pokemon somewhere in here. We should probably go find him." She said.

They found Seth standing outside the front door. "So what happened to finding the rare pokemon?" Soul asked.

"Not if it kills us." Seth said, his eyes wide.

"What did you see?" Sky asked.

"I have no idea. It was like a face or something flashing on the screen."

"So?" Soul said. "Is that it?"

"This place looks haunted, and we've seen some crazy shit. Pokemon or no, bad shit is in there."

"Just seems like superstition to me." Soul said.

"A healthy sense of fear keeps you safe. Let's just go find that abandoned pokemon."

"If I could use your dex..."

"You don't have thumbs." Seth explained. "And the only guy with thumbs," He pointed his thumbs at himself. "Is not going back in there."

"Wuss." She said.

"This wuss is gonna stay alive." He began walking away, the only option left being to follow. They left the grounds of the mansion, and went back out into the forest. "So how are we gonna find this pokemon?"

"If he was abandoned, I would assume he'd be upset, and if he is, I can sense him when we get close enough." Sky said.

"Wait, so if you can only sense emotions, what were you sensing in the mansion?" Soul asked as they walked.

"Excitement, maybe?" Sky offered. "Emotions are typically complex, so it's hard to explain how they feel exactly."

"Yeah, I can agree." Seth said.

"Oh yeah, so did we ever figure out why you went espeon?" Soul asked.

"Nope." Seth said. "But I'm hoping I can turn into the other eeveelutions. Umbreon is kinda dull." He had to go silent as someone passed by.

"Wait." Sky said. She raised her head and her tail twitched, the twin tips splaying wide. "I think I got him." She dashed forward, with the others right behind. The forest was cut into large open paths, with clusters of trees marking the edges. The canopy still remained, keeping it darkened. Looking up revealed many massive trees with huge branches covering the sky in layers. They rounded one of the corners, coming face to face with a large green rock, covered in moss and ivy. Sitting in front of it was a leafeon. It locked eyes with Seth for a moment, before it lowered its stance and began growling.

"Go away!" He warned, vines coming out of his neck.

"It's alright." Seth said, holding up his hands and slowly approaching. "I just want to talk. I can understand you."

"I said go away!" He yelled, vines extending and wrapping around Seth, one around each limb and one around his neck. The two around his wrists wrapped tight and pulled, holding his hands together above his head. The two around his feet pulled, knocking him to the ground. The one around his neck tightened and cut off his breath.

"S..stay." He managed to say before the girls could make a move. His arms bulged with effort as pulled them down, grabbed the vine around his neck, and pulled it away enough to breath. "We're just as strong as you." He said. "If I wanted to hurt you or capture you, I could. I just want to talk."

The vines loosened. "Alright, talk from there." The vines retracted back into his body. The leafeon sat back down, back to the rock.

Seth walked over a bit to sit against a tree. "So why are you here? The local gym leader asked me to come investigate." His bulging arms stopped, just as some blue fur began to sprout. It shrunk back into him.

"Gardenia? She's nice enough. At least she never tried to catch me."

"Okay, so why so aggressive?"

"I don't want to be caught obviously."

"Yeah, I got that. Why? I'm trying to help you out here." Seth explained, trying to sound as sincere as he could.

"Aghh." The eon groaned. "Why don't you just leave."

"Sky here sensed your worry. Just tell me."

"How about this? Only since you're so damn insistent. I'll leave, but you have to take me to Snowpoint city. And I'm not joining your team, you are only escorting me."

"Snowpoint? The snowy place to the north? Why do you wanna go there?" Seth asked.

"Are you gonna take me or not?"

"Alright. Can I at least get a name?"

"Drew." The leafeon said.

"And one more condition. You have to help us take on the gyms. Then we'll go to Snowpoint when it's time."

"Then fuck off."

Seth put his head in his hands and groaned. "And I thought Soul was a handful. Fine. We'll go to Snowpoint after we battle this gym. But you're helping."

Drew squinted, tapped his paw... "Fine."

Seth got up and walked over. "Seth." He offered his hand.

Drew just stared at it. "What?"

"Humans usually shake hands after a deal."

Drew lifted a paw and put it into Seth's hand. "Like this?"

Seth clenched his hand and shook. "Yes. That's Soul and Sky." He said.

He grunted and nodded in their direction.

"There is one other thing." Soul said. "You know anything about that mansion? We were supposed to find a rare pokemon there."

"Rare pokemon in a mansion? Yea, I know the one. We can stop by there on the way back to town."

"And one more thing. What if somebody tries to catch you?" Seth asked.

"Then you better save me." Drew responded with an arrogant smirk.

"What have I gotten myself into..." Seth asked.

"Hey! You in here? It's Drew." He said to the empty room. They were back in the TV room of the mansion.

"Drew?" A pointed orange head emerged from the TV. "Hey! Long time no see." As it emerged, the static faded away and the TV turned off, now with no power source. Sky got closer, her tails waving in its direction.

"This was what I sensed." She confirmed.

"Stupid psychic types. You guys always ruin my fun." The ghost complained.

Seth pulled his pokedex out and quickly scanned the pokemon. "Yep, rotom. Pretty rare. So, to the gym." Seth said.


	8. Chapter 7: Gardenia

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

Drew the Leafeon

Chp 7: Gardenia

"Rotom." Seth said.

"Excuse me?" The receptionist asked.

"The pokemon is rotom." Seth told her.

"I see. I'll inform Gardenia. She'll be with you shortly." The receptionist left. And returned a short time later, with the gym leader in tow.

"So you found little old rotom? And is that the leafeon? Wow, color me impressed. Let's do this." Gardenia said with a smile. She led him further into the gym, through what seemed to be a hedge maze, and into the arena. There were spectators, but not as many as in Oreburgh. "How many pokemon you got?"

"Three." Seth said.

"And based on your record, you're pretty tough. This'll be fun!" She said, sounding chipper as ever. She took three balls off her belt. "Absol, espeon, and leafeon... For saving that leafeon, I'll tell you my own team. Torterra, Trevenant, Roserade. Now let's go!" She tossed out a ball, releasing a huge green turtle pokemon.

"Drew? You wanna start it?" Seth offered.

"If I have to." The leafeon groaned. He stepped onto the grassy field, which was surrounded by a 'fence' of large flowers.

Gardenia turned and released her other two pokemon. "The rule here in my gym is that it's a equal fight, with all pokemon out during the battle. I've always hated keeping my pokemon cooped up in those balls. And we don't have a judge. It's more of a friendly thing. Now go!"

"Alright, Drew use..." Seth's face went blank. "Shit." He said under his breath. "I don't know any of your moves." He said quietly.

"I'm not some baby who needs a guide to fight." He said without looking back. He licked his lips, pursed them and let out a sharp whistle, that dipped into a cheery sound, almost like wind and chimes. The eyes of all pokemon drooped, including Seth, but Torterra was in the direct line of fire, and his head went limp as he fell asleep. He remained standing though. Drew smirked, and charged forward. Two vines grew from his neck and swung. They left a thin red line in the air, in a X shaped trail. Torterra flinched from the attack, but didn't do much else. Drew then spun around, using his leafy tail to slash at Torterra.

Torterra's eyes snapped open. The grass turtle roared, stomping a foot to the ground. Cracks shot out through the ground, a chunk of ground under Drew shaking, and jostling him. Drew ran forward, but the shaking caused him to fall flat on his face. Torterra shook his back, leaves scattering, before they launched at Drew, slashing at him as he stood back up. Drew resumed his charge, running to Torterra's side, where he couldn't see, and jumping onto his back. Torterra could feel him, but could do little. He shook violently, but Drew was too nimble to be knocked off. He did scatter a few sharp leaves, but they couldn't hit Drew. He used two more vines to deliver another X-Scissor, right at Torterra's head. He roared again, and bucked fiercely, forcing Drew off. He managed to twist around in the air and land on his feet, but Torterra charged forward, smashing into Drew and knocking him back. Torterra took a couple of stumbling steps before collapsing, as did Drew.

"So you can battle without commands too?" Gardenia asked as she recalled her first pokemon.

"Yes, I can." Seth explained as he walked onto the field to pick up Drew and carry him back. He set the unconscious leafeon down behind him.

"That's impressive. I used to not be able to, until I met this guy." She pointed to the Trevenant. "See, I used to be spooked by ghosts, till I met him over by the Chateau. Ever since then I've been closer than ever to my pokemon."

"Yeah. Sky, your turn." He said, motioning her forward.

"Speaking of, Trevenant, go get her." He let out a creaking groan as he stepped forward.

Sky opened with a ball of ghostly energy, blasting it into the tree spirit. He grunted and brushed off his bark, but otherwise seemed unharmed. His red eye glowed, and a trio of ghostly trees appeared around Sky. A few vines sprouted from her body, and wrapped around her.

"What is this?" She asked worriedly as she tried to remove them.

"We don't have time to worry." Seth told her. "As long as it doesn't hurt, just beat him quick!"

"Right." She responded. She charged and fired another shadow ball. Trevenant reached out with his long arms and raked at Sky with shadowy claws. Sky crunched her face, but remained strong, lifting the large tree with psychic, tossing him back.

"Trevenant, come back!" Gardenia called, recalling the ghost tree. "You did it." She said to the ball. "Now get ready for round two." She motioned for the last pokemon out to step forward, her Roserade.

"Get her Sky!" Seth called.

Sky's gem glowed as she prepared to launch her psychic assault, Roserade vanished from sight, appearing behind Sky, and delivering a powerful jab, dripping with poison. Sky cried out and collapsed.

"What...?" Seth asked, his mouth agape. He looked down to ask Soul if she was ready. She was already on the field. Seth recalled Sky, and Gardenia switched back to Trevenant. "Soul, do not get hit by that move."

Soul said nothing. She charged forward, swinging her horn with two night slashes, back and forth. Before Trevenant could even try to fight back, his eye faded and he fell back.

"Wow, saved the best for last?" Gardenia complemented. "So did I! This'll be fun!" Roserade stepped forward, brandishing her flowers at Soul, taking an almost fencer like stance.

"We won't lose." Soul said.

Roserade smirked, but said nothing. When neither pokemon moved, Gardenia said, "Uh, you can start now." Still neither moved. Soul was the more impatient of the two, and made the first move, dashing forward while swinging her horn to launch a wave of psychic energy. Roserade sidestepped it gracefully, and a thorny vine emerged from her flowers, which she whipped at Soul, forcing her back. Now knowing that she could not approach, Soul opened her mouth, and fired a beam of ice.

Roserade spun her whips for a moment, and began lashing them accurately through the air, cutting and deflecting the ice beam. Soul kept up the beam as long as she could, but none of it hit the intended target. Roserade arrogantly brushed her hair back with one of her hands after the attack ended. Soul was panting, but Roserade was seemingly fine, or at least hiding it well.

Seth was biting his lip. He was worried she would have to mega evolve to take on this foe. After she had swallowed a mega stone, she had been capable of doing it on her own, but there were consequences. As much as he wanted to do something, there was nothing he could really do to help. Giving her orders now might distract her.

He couldn't see it, but Soul was beaming with joy. She was having the time of her life. As much as she would love to keep fighting, she knew Seth was getting anxious, so she had to wrap this up. Her train of thought was broken as Roserade moved onto the offensive, using her thorny whips, tipped with poison, to control Soul's movements, and to chip away at her stamina. Soul roared and charged straight forward, receiving sharp stinging slaps from the storm of vines, more sprouting as she got closer. Just before she got to Roserade, she received a jab with the speed of a bullet, the same more that had taken out Sky, right to the face.

She grit her teeth, forcing her body to move despite the venom in her body. She pounced onto the smaller pokemon, pinning the grass type under her. Flames licked her lips, and she opened her mouth wide to fire a point blank fire blast into Roserade. She did this twice more, Roserade squirming fiercely under her, vines thrashing at Soul to get her off. This did not work, and after the third blast, Roserade went limp. Soul rolled over onto her side, lying there and panting. "Antidote!" She called.

Seth reached into his back, took out one of the cures, and rushed over to her, spraying it liberally over her body. "You did great." He said, rubbing her head gently.

"Yeah, I'm awesome." She said, before her head dropped, as she was too tired to keep it up.

He looked up to see Gardenia next to him. "I'm glad we fought. Not very often that I see pokemon so close to their trainer. You've earned this one." She took a badge from her pocket and gave it to him.

"Thanks." He said. "I hate to run, but I've gotta get to the pokemon center."

"I understand. One other thing, you can always rematch a gym leader if you ever wanna."

"That wasn't half bad." Drew said once they were back in the hotel room for the night. He had already claimed part of the bed for himself. "Gym leaders are a lot tougher than the average pokemon and trainers in the woods."

"We knew that." Soul said. "I only have one question for you. Are you a rapist? Cause most males we've met are either assholes or rapists."

"Uhh, wow. Shit. That's a heavy question to ask me right after we met."

"Well, we are offering to help you out, and you won't tell us anything, and we're letting you stay the night, so some answers would be great." She explained. She hadn't even looked for the remote, so she was serious.

"Alright. You all seem like nice enough people." Drew said, standing up. " No, I'm not a rapist. In fact, I have a mate. That's why I want to go to Snowpoint. We met in Hearthome, then she went on an adventure to go visit her family in Snowpoint, and we promised to meet up in Hearthome, at our den. But our backup plan was to meet where we evolved. But that's the problem. I evolved in the woods here, and she evolved in Snowpoint, so I was waiting here, and I think she's waiting there. It's been about month since then and I haven't seen any sign of her."

"And what if she were to show up here?" Sky asked.

"She's at least as strong as me. The issue is that snow and grass doesn't really agree. I just need some help getting there. If she's not there, I can handle myself afterwards."

"And so what do we get out of this?" Soul asked.

"Jack shit." Drew said plainly.

"Well, I guess we can get some experience." Sky offered.

"I really don't care." Seth said. "It's something to do, so we're gonna do it." He was laying on the bed in his usual spot, with his arms resting behind his head. "If we keep going full blast like this, we'll just beat all the gyms, and then what?"

Soul smiled. "There he is." She said. "Good to have you back."

"Good to be back." He said.

Now that the business was out of the way, Soul walked over to the nightstand, carefully plucking the remote off and holding it in her mouth as she went over to the foot of the bed. Once there, she turned it on and skimmed until she found something to watch.

"What is this?" Drew asked.

"TV." Soul said.

"The similarities are terrifying." Sky commented.

"It's called a television. It's a thing that shows videos for humans." Seth said.

"Oh, that's dumb." He said, sitting down on the bed.

"You're not sleeping up here." Seth explained.

"Ah, I see. Take the soft thing for yourself and the guest gets the floor." He complained, looking defiantly at the human. When Seth didn't relent, he looked away and left it at that.

About an hour later, Seth stood up. He was still dressed, and he reached into his pack to grab a few things. "I'm going to get dinner. I'll be back."

"You sure you want to leave us here?" Sky asked, sounding a bit nervous. He kneeled down and pet her head.

"I'll be right back. I'm just gonna go find some takeout." He leaned close and whispered in her ear. "Soul's right there and you outnumber him. If he tries anything, you have permission to go all out." With that, she felt better, and he stood back up. Sky and Soul were in their usual spots, on the floor in front of the bed and on the foot of the bed respectively. Drew was sitting further up, on the right side of the full size mattress. The rest of the pokemon center room was exactly the same as always. A TV on the wall opposite the bed, on top of a dresser. Next to the bed, on the left, was a nightstand. On the far side of the room was the window, a chair and desk, and a mini PC with a transfer pad. Between Seth and the door was a closet and the door to the bathroom.

"So, you leaving or not? I'm starving here." Soul said.

"Yea." Seth said, as he turned, made sure he had his things, and left.

"So..." Sky said. She got onto the bed and looked at Drew. "Care to say any more?"

"Like what? I told you why I wanted help, and that's all you really need to know."

"I don't know. That's something civilized people do. They talk about things, and explore ideas to understand each other."

"We're pokemon." He said.

"We're not so different from humans."

"How about no. I'd rather just watch the TV."

"Okay... Uh, hey Soul, how come you know so many TM moves?"

"My old trainer taught me a ton of them."

"Oh..." Sky said, sounding a bit dejected. She wasn't much of a fan of Soul's comedies, and now she didn't have any other options.

Seth made it out of the pokemon center, and looked around main street. He didn't see any obvious restaurants. He looked both up and down the street, and decided to go for the northern side of town. As he rounded the pokemon center, he began to doubt his choice. All that he saw was a large office building and what seemed to be a park in the distance. At risk of looking like a stupid tourist, he turned around and went the other way. Along the way, he spotted something down one of the side streets. It was a sign with a sandwich on it.

He went inside, the door ringing as he opened it. A young girl was behind the counter.

"Hello, can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm looking for dinner."

"We serve pokemon sandwiches as well." She explained.

"Great, one person and three pokemon."

"Hold on a moment!" An old voice said. An elderly man stepped out from the back. "You are a kind trainer to buy your pokemon dinner. We have a special offer for-"

"Grandpa!" The girl said. "You can't keep doing this!"

"It's my shop!" He shot back. "Now, what is the name of the pokemon we have a statue of in this town?"

"Grandpa..." She complained.

"Uh... I have no idea. I just got into town." Seth said.

"Now, care to listen to the story of it?"

"Well, I..." Seth started.

"You see, here in Sinnoh, we have two pokemon that we revere. Legend has it that Arceus created two pokemon to oversee the universe. Dialga, god of time, and Palkia, god of space. The statue is a combination of their attributes."

"First of all, it was a trick question then. Second, how do people know what Dialga and Palkia look like?"

"Ahh, a good question. You see, a long time ago, the gods were present here in Sinnoh. One could go to the peak of Mt. Coronet, to the Spear Pillar, to commune with them. They seem to have left though. I wonder why..."

"Okay, so can I get some food?" Seth asked.

"Yes, allow me." He said.

"Gramps, aren't I supposed to be learning to run this place?"

"You can help."

"Uh... so do I make my own sandwich or...?"

"You can, but I'm going to make you four special ones." The man said.

"I still think we should just put it on the menu." The girl said.

"Nonsense. History is important, no matter what you damn kids think."

"Grandpa!"

Seth just kept his mouth shut as they argued.

"I'm back." Seth called as he entered the room. He was carrying a bag with him. He came further in, and set the four sandwiches, wrapped in paper, on the desk. "Alright, no eating on the bed." He reached into his backpack, and took out a pair of bowls for the girls to eat from.

Soon, they were all eating. The girls had their sandwiches awkwardly placed in their bowls, keeping the food off the floor, and Drew had his spread out on the floor, on the paper it came in. Seth had his in hand as he sat at the desk.

"What is this? It's really good." Soul said.

"I have no idea." Seth said. "It's some special thing." He opened the bread, to find a strange multicolored paste along the top and bottom. "Doesn't look good." He took another bite. "But damn it tastes good. Probably a berry paste mix."

"I had no idea human food could be this good." Drew said. "Is it okay for pokemon to eat?"

"Yea, pokemon can eat anything a human can." Seth told him.

A short time later, and nothing but crumbs remained. Seth disrobed, and got into bed. Soul hopped up beside him, laying facing the TV, with her rear towards his head. He reached out and rubbed over her rump and the sensitive spot at the base of her tail. She couldn't help but purr and push into the strokes.

Out of the corner of his eye, Seth noticed Drew giving them a strange look. Sky soon joined them, lying on the other side of Seth, and now both his hands were occupied caressing his lovers. Seth suddenly lunged forward, grappling Soul, and pulling her onto him. He rubbed his head into her silky fur as she struggled for a moment.

"Yeah, alright, I love you, now let me go. I'm gonna miss the show." She complained, struggling weakly.

He released her, satisfied with the cuddles. "I love you too." He said. His gaze then turned to Sky, who was eager to snuggle.

"Wait just a minute!" Drew yelled. "What the hell is this?!"

Seth raised his head, looking over Soul's body and down to the floor. "What?"

"You _love_ them?! Like real love? That's disgusting! How can you mate with a human?"

"Oh yea?!" Soul growled, getting angry. "He's not just a-"

"Soul." He put his hand on her head. "It's alright. Yes, I'm what humans call a pokephile, and these girls are my mates. If you have a problem, you can leave now."

Drew grumbled, but did little else.

I headed down the stairs quietly, avoiding the squeaky one. Sky wasn't awake, but Seth was. I turned the corner, and went out into the back yard. I had already checked everywhere else. He must be training or something. I opened the pokemon friendly sliding door, which was covered by a tarp as the glass was broken, and exited into the yard. I heard something, it must be him. I went through the grass, around the large tree in the center of the yard, and then I saw something...

It looked like... something... it was certainly humanoid. It had blue and black fur, with rings, stripes and patterns of white. It was growling and panting loudly. On its hands-

It suddenly vanished in the blink of an eye, and it was in front of me. It wrapped a hand around my neck, and started lifting. It held me a foot off the ground, choking the life out of me with its powerful grasp.

"S...eth?" I whimpered with all the breath I could muster. Suddenly the grip vanished, and I dropped to the ground, coughing. The growling stopped. When I looked up, Seth was human and on his hands and knees, gasping for breath and tears dripping from his face.

"What... what happened?" He asked quietly.

Soul's eyes shot open. She shivered as she realized she was awake. Her head rested on Seth's sleeping forearm, his hand wrapped around her and lying on her rapidly breathing chest. She looked over, her pokemon eyes seeing well in the dark, and stared at him for a moment. Had that really been him so long ago? It only happened that one day, and neither of them knew what it was. From what he told her, he was training that morning, and then... he blacked out. She drew in a deep breath, trying to calm down. While she did like having a strong mate, that... thing... was not her mate. That thing was not Seth. It had barely been human or pokemon.


	9. Chapter 8: Snow (X)

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

Drew the Leafeon

Chp 8: Snow

"Alright, everybody ready?" Seth asked. He received nods from all three pokemon. "Then let's hit the road." He pulled the straps of his pack, making sure it was on tight. The group left their room, checking out on the way, and headed east out of Eterna city. On the way, they passed through the park the sandwich shop owner had talked about, where the statue was. Past that, they left town and entered the wilds. They went through some grass and across a bridge, before arriving at a cave entrance. "Do you know where we're going?" Seth asked Drew.

"Yea."

"And how? I don't think you were ever captured, so..." Soul asked.

"Well, you're right about that. When Dust left, I found a sign with a map on it, while I was coming to Eterna. That's how I know all the names and routes. All she really said was that she was going to visit her family up north. Snowpoint is the most northern point in Sinnoh, so I think she's there. So north, through this mountain range." The leafeon explained.

"Dust? Is that your mates name?" Sky asked.

"Yes. She's a glaceon. We met near Hearthome, and that's where our den is. But when she left to go visit her family, she wanted me to stay home and watch the place. After a few weeks, I got worried and tried to get to her, but... Anyways, you're here, so I should be able to make it."

"You know you could be a little nicer since we're helping you for free and all." Soul chastised him.

"Yeah, you're welcome to help out the strongest leafeon in Sinnoh." He bragged. He didn't see Seth's scowl. They were now in the cave, navigating in a northerly direction. The entire time, Seth was looking around in a paranoid fashion, but the coast was clear, for now.

Seth jumped when he heard a noise. It wasn't a zubat... at lease he didn't think so. It sounded... "Sololull" The echoing call sounded out again. "Was that an absol?" Seth asked.

"Sounded like it. Makes sense cause-"

"Yeah, mountainous species, I know." Seth said, already having heard all about absol as a species from her on several occasions. "They could be anywhere. This cavern is huge, so sound travels really far."

Soon they came to a problem. There was a large boulder fitted snugly into the path. Seth experimentally pushed on it. "Nope. No budge. It's either heavy or stuck." He reached back into one of the pockets of his pack and pulled out a single glove. "Soul?"

"On it." She said. She stepped in front of him and slashed her claws at it. After the second one, a small chip formed. "It's a tough one." She said, moving aside.

"What are we gonna do?" Drew asked. "Maybe there's another path?"

"I got this." Seth said. He flexed his hand as many ways as he could think of. His arm bulged before reeling back and punching into the crack Soul had made. Nothing happened for a moment, then cracks ran through the boulder as chunks crumbled away. His arm returned to normal size right after, just as a couple blue hairs started to form.

"What the fuck!" Drew shouted. "You are a freak! No human could do that!" He backed up to one of the walls, baring his fangs.

"Well I just did. Let's keep moving." Seth said, climbing onto and over the pile of rubble left behind. The girls were right behind him. Drew had to take a moment to process. Humans were squishy and weak, that's why they captured pokemon to fight for them, but... Perhaps he had underestimated this person.

As they continued on, there were more rocks, though they were much smaller and easily broken. They saw a few pokemon, mostly geodude, but they were left alone, likely due to the size of the party.

"Feel that? It's getting colder." Drew said.

"I don't feel anything." Soul said.

"That's because you've got a built in winter coat. It is starting to get a bit chilly. Good thing I wore a long sleeve shirt, though I don't think that's gonna cut it if the temperature keeps dropping." Seth said.

They came to a slope upwards, rounding a corner, and then a ray of light was visible. As they stepped out into the open, they were met with a bright landscape, covered in sparkling snow.

Seth shivered and rubbed his arms. "Yeah, I should have brought a coat."

"It's weird how quickly we transitioned. Just a little bit ago it was mild temperature, and now... We didn't go that far north." Sky commented, experimentally messing with the snow on the ground, leaving paw prints behind.

"I dunno." Seth said. "I stopped questioning weird stuff a long time ago."

"It's not cold at all. There's just snow on the ground." Soul said. Her thick white coat both kept her warm and blended well.

"Speak for yourself. Can we hurry up?" Drew said through chattering teeth. He was shivering violently.

"I agree." Seth said. "At least it's not snowing."

They began to trudge through the built up snow. It was about a foot deep. From the looks of things, no human had been through here. There were a few pokemon tracks scattered around, but most were off in the deeper snow. There were sign posts sticking out, pointing the proper path to follow.

"AHH!" Seth suddenly screamed. He pitched forward, going face first into the snow, shooting a puff of it into the air when he hit. "Dammit!" He rolled over and clutched his right ankle. "Shit!" He hissed. He took a few deep breaths. "Yeah, I twisted my ankle." He got up, standing on one foot, with powdery snow all over his clothes. He experimentally put his weight on his injured foot, but winced and stopped.

"You okay?" Sky asked, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Yeah. It's not broken. Just a sprain." He began to brush off his clothes, while leaning visibly to the left. "The cold is way worse." His teeth were chattering now that the snow had began to melt, wetting his clothes. "Let's go. The sssooner wwe ggett..." He brought up his hands and breathed on them.

Now both Seth and Drew were shivering. In the distance, Seth could see a cottage.

"C'mon!" He shouted, hobbling faster.

About half way to it, Drew shouted, "Stop!" He lowered his head and went off into the deeper snow, almost two feet high. He stopped at a set of tracks and sniffed a few more times. "That's her scent!" He dashed off, following the tracks into the snowy woods.

"But... the cottage..." Seth said. "Fine, Soul, you go catch up with him. Sky and I will be right behind you."

Soul charged though the snow, kicking up a trail of powder in her wake. She managed to catch up to Drew, who was still sniffing through the snow.

"She was just here..." He looked up. "Dust!" Soul came closer, spotting something moving up ahead.

"Drew? Drew!" A glaceon, presumably Dust, said. "What are you doing here?" She asked, coming closer.

"You were gone for so long, I got worried." Drew said, going closer and nuzzling her.

"How did you... Who is she?" Dust asked.

"She's Soul. Her trainer offered to take me here."

"Trainer!?" Dust yelped.

"It's alright." Seth said, coming into view. "I didn't capture him."

"Can you..." She sighed. "Alright, I guess the jig is up. Drew, I'm so sorry, but I'm scared to let my family know my mate is a leafeon. If they knew I mated with someone who's a weaker type... I love you, you know I do, but I love them too."

"Oh... I get it. But why didn't you just tell me when you left?"

"I didn't want to hurt your feelings." One of her tassels twisted around and covered her face.

"It's fine. Family's important. But you've been gone for a while."

"My mom is very... demanding. She wants me to find a mate here, and I've been stalling. If I leave..."

"Well, if she met me..." Drew offered.

"But..."

Seth chimed in. "Secrets usually have a way of getting out. You can't possibly keep both parties happy without one finding out."

Dust bit her lip and looked down. "Alright." She said quietly. "Follow me." She led them towards the rocky mountain wall. They had just come out of a snowy canyon, and into a snowy forest. Now they were headed back. They came up to the sheer rock face, and there was a small hole in the side. Dust turned around. "Okay, I'll go in first. Just give me a minute..." She squeezed in, and was gone.

Seth leaned against the wall. "I don't think I can fit in there." He said, pointing to the hole.

Dust came back out a bit later. "Okay... you can... come..." She looked terrified.

"Uhh, what about me? I'm kind of freezing here." Seth said, managing to stop chattering his teeth for a second.

"Oh... I..."

"They _did_ bring me here." Drew said.

"Okay..." She slipped back inside, with Drew right behind her. Sky was next in line, and then Seth. He bent over, got his arms in, twisted a bit, managed to get his shoulders through, and then came his waist. Without the ability to twist and maneuver it, his midsection stopped. With his head inside, he could see the interior of the cave. It widened out greatly, enough for him to stand on his knees at least. He saw Sky disappear around a corner, and now was stuck in what seemed to be the entryway. There were some random things lying around, rocks, leaves, and food.

"Uhh, little help?" Seth said. He used his hands on the inside to push himself forward, but his hips were too wide. His shoulders were wider, but he had gotten them in one at a time. "Ahh!" He grunted when something smashed into his rear, hard. It hit with enough force to push him in. On his hands and knees, he turned around to see Soul ducking and squeezing in. She looked about his width, but a lot of that bulk was fur, which bent easily to allow her in. She had a devious smile planted on her face. Seth decided not to say anything and began to crawl forward. No way he could stand up and walk. Maybe in a crouch, but he didn't want to test the rock ceiling. He rounded the corner and entered the next room.

This room was what seemed to be a living and dining room. There was a slab of rock in the middle of the room. On one side of it was a glaceon, one that looked older than Dust, and on the other were Dust and Drew, with Sky to the side. There was a small hole with a dried leaf over it to store food. And past the older glaceon was two more passages.

"So this is your mate? Why didn't you tell me?" The older glaceon asked.

"Mom... I just..."

"You must know how shy she is." Drew said. "She was afraid to upset you or me."

"Why would I be upset?" The mom asked, sounding very maternal and caring.

"Well dad was a glaceon... so I thought..."

"You don't have to marry someone like your father. I mean, he was a good man, and I want someone like him for you, but species has nothing to do with it."

"And your name miss?" Drew asked.

"Flurry, but you can call me mom if you want."

"Hi Flurry, I'm Seth. I can understand pokemon, and I'm not going to catch you. We were the ones who escorted Drew here."

"I can imagine he'd need help. This place isn't really hospitable, especially to grass types." Flurry said. "But a human that understands pokemon? Can other humans do that?"

"Not that I know of. I'm just special." He said.

"Hey mom, who's here?" A flareon asked as she emerged from the left passage. "Shit! HUMAN!" She screamed. "Get out here girls!" Two more females, a vaporeon and a jolteon, came up behind her, all angry and ready to fight.

"Girls!" Flurry shouted, disarming the situation. "He's friendly. This is Flare, Vapor and Jolt. Oldest and down in that order. Dust is the youngest."

"You know, I've always wondered about that. How do you name a flareon Flare, when they are born as an eevee? How do you predict that?" Seth asked.

"You mean humans don't change names? Well, with pokemon, we can essentially change our names anytime. We just name pokemon when they hatch, and if they want a different name, they can go by a new one." Flurry explained.

"Yeah, humans are pretty much stuck with what they get." Seth said. "So, I don't have fur, and I'm soaked, so..."

"Oh, of course. Flare, take care of our guest here."

"Kay." She turned and went down the right path. Seth crawled around the table to follow. Soul and Sky joined him.

They entered a much larger room, with a higher ceiling. In one corner was what seemed to be a natural area of stone, in the perfect shape for a fireplace. There was pristine looking wood next to and in it. Flare went up and lit the thing, before leaving.

"Nice place." Seth said.

Back in the dining room...

"So this is your mate? After all this time. No wonder you were so mean to that sneasel." Jolt said.

"He seems okay." Vapor said.

"But really, why didn't you just tell me? I would never have tried to put you on the market if I knew."

"Really liking the exoticness. How the hell did you meet him? And both of your names start with d." Flare said.

"I am curious. You said that you tried to get Dust a mate, but what about her sisters?" Drew asked.

"They still live under my roof. Once they move out, they can do whatever they want. I just thought I'd try to help her out. Dust you really are too shy." Flurry answered.

"I know..." She said, covering her face with her tassels.

"Well you can introduce Drew to your sisters. I'm going to speak to our guests." Flurry said. She went to the room Seth was in, leaving the sisters behind as they began to bicker like usual. "Hello there human... Seth." She corrected. "You are welcome to whatever is in my home."

"So, can you tell me more about your family? I'm curious." Seth asked.

"Well, my mate and I were both glaceon. He passed away a while ago. The four girls are all sisters, and Dust was the first to leave home. She's about two years younger than Flare, and Jolt and Vapor are twins, one year younger. I'm the boss of this house, and I say you folks are welcome, so if they give you any trouble, you come to me. On that note, you are welcome to stay the night."

"It's not that late..." Seth said.

"Well, your fur is wet, and it's only going to get colder outside."

"Fur?" Seth looked down to confirm his status. "My clothes?"

"Clothes?"

"Uhh, humans wear... stuff to keep warm. We don't grow our own fur." He said, having to think about what not to say to confuse her.

"That's strange... We've avoided humans all our lives, so we're not too familiar with your customs."

"It's okay. You seem nice enough."

"And how is it exactly that you understand us?"

"Well, my father was a pokemon and my mother was a human. So I'm a hybrid."

"I thought that was a secret?" Soul asked.

"For humans maybe. Pokemon aren't as fickle. Like if humans knew you were my mate, they'd freak out. In some places, pokephilia is even illegal. Abuse, they call it."

"Mate? We'll come back to that one." Flurry said. "How does your ability work?"

"I assume it's similar to pokemon, or bilingual humans. They can speak their own language, pokespeak, and understand human speak. It processes in their brain exactly the same. Pokemon just lack the biological ability to speak human. Humans and pokemon sound identical. I can't even tell the difference. I guess my brain just does all the work by itself. Ever since I first transformed, I could understand pokemon perfectly." Seth explained.

"Transformed?" She asked.

"Yea, uh... let me take these wet clothes off first." He said, standing to strip. Once he was naked, he quickly transformed. He shrunk down into an umbreon.

"Wow. And no other human can do that?" She asked.

"None that I've met. I'm sure there are other hybrids out there." He said. His dark fur was still matted and wet. He transformed back, hands going to his crotch to cover his junk while he sat close to the fire.

"Well, sit here and relax. The cave warms up quickly when the fire is lit."

"I was wondering about that. How was this cave formed? It seems really perfect." Seth asked.

"It's not natural. My grandparents carved it out. My grandfather was a vaporeon, and he used water to do it."

"That's amazing."

"Everybody to the table! Dinner is ready!" Flurry called out later. Seth, now in his umbreon form, followed by Soul and Sky, came in. Everyone else was also filing in. Seth and the girls were on one side, Flurry on her own, the three sisters, and then Drew and Dust. "If you need a drink, there is water at the end of that hall. Sorry that this is all we have. If I had known we would have guests, we would have gone hunting for fresh meat."

On the relatively small table was a pile of fruit and berries. "That's alright." Seth said a bit nervously. "Humans don't typically eat raw meat."

"But you are a pokemon now." Vapor said.

"Yea, but I'm still human inside. I doubt I could stomach eating a bloody carcass."

"So sis, mind if I borrow your boyfriend tonight?" Flare asked. "Mom chases all the other boys away."

"Flare, stop." Drew said bluntly. "Don't be such a bitch to your own sister."

Flurry whipped one of her tassels to the side, smacking Flare in the head. "You can mate when you find one. No daughter of mine is going to raise kids alone."

Later that night, Seth was in one of the 'bedrooms'. It didn't really have any of the identifying features of a human one, like personal effects. There were a couple things, but not anything unique. There were five bedrooms. Flurry had one, Drew and Dust were taking her old room, and Seth had been given Flare's room, forcing her to bunk with one of her sisters. After having dried off, Seth went umbreon for the rest of the day, making it easier to move around. The only personal belonging in the room was a small char black piece of wood.

"I'll be back. Bathroom before bed." Seth said. He walked out, down the hall, and to the exit. They didn't have a bathroom inside, so he had to go outside. After taking care of business, he went back inside. It was dark, and quite cold, and he was feeling tired. He groggily stumbled back in, entering the room. When he looked to see Soul and Sky, he instead saw a flareon and a jolteon, both lying on their grassy bed. The flareon, Flare, was on top, and the Jolteon, Jolt, on bottom. What surprised Seth was their position. They were lying so each other's pussies were at the others mouth. He started to back up, but not fast enough to avoid getting caught.

"Umbreon?" Flare asked. "Oh, the human." She smiled. "Come on in~"

Something hit him from behind, pushing him into the room. He turned to see Vapor behind him, boxing him in. "I can't believe you two started without me, but I guess it worked out."

"You sure we want the human involved?" Jolt said.

"You know how mom is. Ever since she caught me with that snover, no males allowed. Vapor hasn't even had one." Flare said.

"Uhh, I'd rather not." Seth said.

"And Dust isn't sharing. So he's our best chance to get laid. Human or no, he looks pokemon. I can only handle oral for so long." Flare said, not even acknowledging him. "And I was checking out his balls when he wasn't looking. He's well endowed."

"I'm just going to leave now." Seth said, trying to get past Vapor. Past her, he saw Soul passing by. "Hey! Soul! Little help here?"

She turned and looked around Vapor to see his predicament. "Oh, I see~ Go on ahead and enjoy yourself. I don't mind. I'll let Sky know you'll be busy." She started to leave, but stopped for a moment. "And maybe you'll be able to turn to other eevee forms."

Now that caught his attention. Could it really be that simple? Eevee were the exception to pokemon evolution, so it wouldn't be surprising if his eevee form was exempt from his hybrid rules, but... "But I don't want these girls..."

"Well we want you." Flare said. "You heard her, just give us each a round, and you can go. Please? Do it for us?" She begged, putting on a pouty face.

"That absol is my mate. I want her, not you."

"And she said it was okay." Flare argued. "If having a mate makes you so stoic, I don't ever want one. Where's your sense of fun, adventure? Three girls throwing themselves at you and all you do is say no." She had climbed off of Jolt and was confronting Seth face to face. "Just fucking fuck us! I thought you were a male with those big balls of yours, but maybe you're just a little bitch!"

"If this is how you try to get a male, no wonder you've been having trouble." Seth retorted.

"I wouldn't be having this conversation with a real male. He'd already have mounted me." She huffed, her fur puffing out in frustration. "One way or the other, you will not sleep tonight with a dick going in me. I don't care if you have to go convince Drew. I'm getting fucked!"

Seth sighed and pressed a paw to his head. "If I really wanted to, I could fight all three of you. You're lucky I'm not violent. Two conditions." He said. Flare smiled deviously. "You go last." Her smile vanished. "Second, you learn why I'd rather not do this."

Flare was about to go off, but Vapor stopped her.

Jolt was now up and whispered in Flare's ear. "We're close, so just keep your mouth shut." Flare grumbled a bit, but did so.

"Go on." Vapor said. "I'd love to hear it."

"Two other pokemon, girls I was very close with, were killed. That was three months ago. I came here to Sinnoh to break the depression, and I haven't done anything for that whole time. Just when things were starting to get better, I wanted to start things off with my mates."

"That's... really sad." Vapor said. "But you can have sex with them any time. We've been trying to find a nice male for a while. They're aren't very many nice pokemon around here and mom has a reputation that scares off all the ones that are here. I like it around here, but it's hard to find love."

"And girls have needs. I'm sure males are the same way. After a while you just need something new, ya know?" Jolt said.

"Alright." Seth said. "That makes me feel a lot better. I don't want to be a booty call."

"And that absol was your mate? The espeon too?" Vapor asked. Seth nodded. "She said something transforming into other forms?"

"Yea, I can change into any pokemon I've had intimate contact with. As for eevee, I think I have to get each form individually. I've already turned into an umbreon and an espeon, and I think I could turn into a sylveon, so with you three, all that leaves is leafeon and glaceon."

"Which both happen to be in this house..." Jolt said.

"I'm not going to rape them just to transform."

"Just saying." Jolt murmured.

"So, Vapor, would you like to go first?" Seth offered.

"I would be honored." She smiled and stepped in front of the other girls. "I... well, I've never done this before... So if I do anything wrong, tell me."

"Just follow your body. It's the easiest natural thing in the world." Seth explained.

"I'm not that much of a virgin. I've just never had a male before. I've never even seen one's..."

Seth sat back, revealing his undercarriage.

"Jolt, let's get back to it." Flare said.

"What, you don't wanna watch?" Jolt said.

"I didn't say that. I just need something in the meantime."

Seth just sat there, allowing Vapor to explore him. At first she kept her distance, looking over the male form. He looked mostly identical to a female, though she didn't really have a female umbreon to compare to. The only defining feature was between his legs. A rounded pouch was located there, along with a tube of fur going up. At the very tip of that was a small peek of red.

"Flare? Any help?"

"I dunno. It's just a dick. It's like a pussy. Just do the same." Flare said, looking away from Jolt's crotch for a moment.

Vapor nodded, and got closer. Using her paws, she began to carefully touch Seth. She moved his fur around, seemingly looking for something. "Where's the opening?"

"Arceus Vapor. If I'd known you were gonna act like this I would have given you a run down on cock." Flare said. "Human, you take care of it." She ordered.

"Fine. Uhh, there's no slit, mine comes out." Seth said. "Move your paws up." He said. Her paw was on his sack, and began moving up, to his sheath. Eventually she reached the tip, where his 'opening' was. As she did, more of his member revealed itself. Once she found the upper half of his dick, she began to rub it, as more came out. She quickly figured it out, bringing her head in to use her tongue. As her maw opened, Seth saw many strands of saliva, and then her tongue hit his flesh. Her tongue was soaking wet, getting drips of spit all over him. He was about worried about her sharp canine teeth, but she only used her tongue. She dragged it up, the broad muscle wrapping around the front half of him, before it flicked off his pointed tip, flinging spit everywhere. The slippery lick had gotten him up to full mast. "Alright, turn around and I'll take it from there."

Vapor nodded and turned, staying in a neutral stance, with her tail raised. As he neared, her rear raised in anticipation, but not enough for a comfortable mount. Nevertheless, he climbed onto her, lying awkwardly on her back with her thick tail in the way, sticking between his legs. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"This is how males do it. Could you lower your head and move your tail?" He said. He lifted one leg, prompting her to move her tail over so it pointed to the side. It was too large to be under him. Now that his crotch was unblocked, he moved forward a bit, lining his member up with her. She had lowered her front a bit, making the position more natural feeling, and his heated genitals rubbed against hers. Her lips, like the ones on her face, were absolutely soaked. Just rubbing his tip against them made a squelching noise. Although that might have been the other two eating each other out.

Before Seth could thrust in, she began to move her hips, rubbing his cock up and down, hot-dogging it between her lips. He felt her purr under him. He pulled back, much to her displeasure, but before she could question him, he thrust into her, hilting in one stroke and taking her virginity. She hissed under him and squirmed, but he held her close, licking the back of her smooth skinned neck until the pain faded. "Tell me when you feel okay." He said quietly. "Sorry I didn't warn you."

"It's alright. Everything makes a bit more sense now. Flare, you suck as a teacher." She said.

"Mrrmph!" Flare tried to say back, but she was too busy to talk. Jolt let out a pleasured moan from the vibrations shooting through her nethers.

"Okay, it doesn't hurt as bad." Vapor said. Seth began to move, pulling his hips back. Her pussy was unique. In contrast to the usual female he bedded, her insides were smooth, like her skin. The thing that made it pleasurable was the pressure she exerted. He couldn't tell if she was trying to, but her nethers held him tight. It was like she had full control of her body. The vast river of honey, enough that it was already soaking his fur and dripping onto the floor, didn't hurt either. He had to use more force than usual to push in and pull out, as her cunny clenched tight around him, making it hard to move. They also flexed and milked him hard. It was like her body was designed to do all the work.

Nevertheless, his instincts told him to keep rutting, having to do it harder to keep going. From the squeaks and purrs under him, that was perfectly fine. He only really had two options, to go slow, and be held inside her, or thrust hard. His body, not used to this kind of thing, was already tiring, and he was nearing his limit. As he thrust even harder, his fur clapped against her leathery hide. It almost felt like Soul's tail and horn. His balls, as Flare had noticed, were heavy and backed up. A month of having sex at least once a day had gifted, or maybe cursed, him with powerful production capabilities. He always had something to give. After three months of nothing, except for that time a couple days ago, he was feeling backed up.

And now it was time, he wasn't trying to hold back, but neither was he rushing into his climax. Eager to give the once virgin water fox what he wanted, he slipped his knot in, barely having to do anything. Her body opened wide to accept it, and the copious juices she let out aided that. The moment he was in her, her pussy clinched down, wrapping tight around his knot. There was no way she was doing all that herself, unless she was far more experienced than she let on. The biological switch clicked, and his tip began to spurt fertile cum. He was pressed up right against her womb, and her own climax started with the onrush of warm seed, milking him further.

When his thoughts came back to reason, he was immediately worried. "Ah shit! Are you in heat?" He asked desperately, squirming atop her. Her body was limp and lying on the ground. She was out cold.

"No, she's not. It's okay." Jolt said.

"Geez, you really went to town." Flare said. When Seth looked up at her, he noticed that her face was messed with feminine liquids. "Now get out, let's keep this going! We're ready to go!"

Seth gave an experimental tug, and slid right out. Without her muscle gripping, she had little traction. After she passed out, her nethers fell mostly still, only occasionally squeezing lightly. "Alright, Jolt?"

She only smiled and assumed the position.

"Come on!" Flare cried. "This was my idea!"

"Too bad." Seth said, mounting Jolt, who was also okay with this order. As his soaked member poked around her rear, he felt that she was wet, from her earlier activities with Flare. He sunk in, now dealing in familiar canine territory. Her short fur was about the same length as Sky's, but it was much more coarse. Her vulva was much more canine than Vapor's, shape and all. On that note, she was similar to Sky, though that wasn't surprising considering their matching species. Vaporeon was the odd one out of the eevee family.

Back to the task at hand, he started thrusting, going all out from the start. He was still sensitive from the previous round, and his knot was already starting to swell. It slapped against her cunny a few times, straining for entrance. It finally went in, swelling larger and tying into her. Her entrance wrapped tight around it as it fit snugly inside. The entire time, Jolt had been mostly quiet. The only times she made a noise was the very beginning, and when his knot went in. She just smiled and took all the thrusts he gave. Just as he was about to cum, something happened. It felt like an electric current ran through his body. His orgasmic build up stopped. It was still there, but the edge just seemed to get further and further away. He began to thrust harder, faster, even pulling his knot out and forcing it back in, drawing a couple squeaks from her, nothing worked. He just couldn't empty his balls. No seed would come out.

"Ahh, you see, hoh, that's good. The body is controlled... mmmm..." Jolt started. Now she was making all those arousing female noises. "by electrical impulses. A lady like me... ahhh... can control it. I couldn't take over your body... that big dick of yours... but I can," She noisily licked her lips. "control a lot of automatic functions." He gave a much stronger thrust, his pointed tip entering her womb. She let out a loud moan as she came, her concentration, and hold on Seth, breaking.

His built up orgasm was strong, even more potent than his first. An absolute wave of sperm burst with pent up force from his cock, flooding her insides. His humping continued through their mutual orgasm, as he pushed her forward with his needful thrusts.

He rolled over to the side, pulling Jolt along with him. He let out a exhausted huff. "I don't think I can do another." He said.

"Don't even." Flare threatened. She stood up. She had been sitting down and pawing off to the fucking pair. She walked over to him. "While you soften up, allow me to explain something. Pokemon type has a lot to do with sex. Each type has its own little thing. Vapor is wet, Jolt can do that little trick. And I hate when you do that by the way."

"I know..." Jolt muttered dreamily. She was barely conscious.

"Anyways, dark types are really kinky and love to fuck, and psychic types are all about that sappy emotional crap."

"Makes sense..." Seth said. "And what does that have to do with-"

"You're gonna find out." She stepped closer. She reached out and pressed her paw down on his still sensitive balls. He yelped and squirmed, resulted in his knot being pulled out of Jolt.

"Ow! Hey, that hurt!" He complained.

"Too bad. I can't do this until you're untied." She leaned in, and kissed him. He didn't really have the energy to try and resist. He felt a huge build up of heat transfer into his mouth, before it diffused through his body. "Ever wonder why they call it heat?"

The 'heat' coursed through his body, as his slowly retreating member shot back out. His energy also came back, and he was raring to go, at least his body was. When she turned around and assumed the position, raising her bushy tail, he hardly had any say in what his body did. Which was mount her.

"Did you use attract?!" He growled, biting down on one ear in warning.

"No, that's basically a rape move." She squirmed under him, shunting further back. "I just used a specialized overheat. It heats up the genitals and tricks the body. It basically causes symptoms of heat, no brainwashing involved. Now c'mon! I've waited long enough!" He was fully sheathed in her cunny, and she shifted around, grinding his stationary member inside of her.

"That's not much different. Not everyone can control their desires. If I wanted to, I could just leave, right now. I've got two girls in the other room who won't try to rape me."

"Geez, I'm sorry, okay? Please..."

"Please what?" He said smugly.

"Please fuck me." She said quietly, huffing a bit of smoke.

"Good enough." He drew back, and thrust in again. And again, and again. Every thrust seemed to become harder, as if she was becoming tighter. Behind that, his balls felt hefty, and were swinging with each thrust.

"Mmm, there it is." She purred.

"Explain." He said, stopping thrusts.

"Arceus dammit. The heat causes your body to warm up, which causes your heart to beat faster, which makes your dick and balls swell up more. Now would you just get on with it!?"

"You're lucky that I need it too." He resumed his pounding. His balls had swollen to nearly an extra half, and his member was almost twice as wide, and a bit longer. Tearing would have likely occurred were he not in his pokemon form. Pokemon were a lot more flexible and stretchy. No skitty on wailord action (a wailord can't fuck a skitty, but wailord cum can impregnate a skitty), but enough to fuck species nearly twice their size. Humans had pride in their adaptive skills, but pokemon were on a whole different level. As things were, this felt incredible to his lustful body. He could feel every contour and ridge of her pussy, every milk and pulse. Every single hilting thrust ground his knot against her lips, and his tip against her cervix.

"Yeah, yeah... mmm, fuck my hot little pussy~" She purred. "Who's your tight little bitch? Who's got the best cunny you've ever had?" She continued. He briefly considered reprimanding her, but decided to let her have her fun. "I make you wanna leave your mates, and be my baby daddy don't I? You certainly fuck like it~"

Now that was over the line. "Don't even." Seth growled in her ear, but he couldn't bring forth the effort to stop his pounding hips.

That shut her up, for a brief period. All she did was moan and groan, intentionally exaggerating to egg him on. Her tail snuck around from her side, wrapping around one leg and the tip tickling at his sack. This made him thrust even harder and faster, his balls swinging forward and clapping against her clit. Even after the two previous back to back rounds, he still felt ready to burst. In an effort to satisfy his natural urges, he slammed his knot in, not really caring if she was ready or not.

This shoved his canine tip right into her womb, as it throbbed in preparation.

"Yes! Give me your children! I'm fertile and ready! Seal our fucking bond!" She begged, doing her best to get him to cum.

"WHAT?!" Seth yelped, trying to yank his knot out. It was too swollen, with its new larger size, to ever come out. He was already at the edge, and that threw him over, hot cum blasting out of his tip and flooding into her blazing womb.

"Mmm, that's it. My eggs are waiting. Sow life inside me~"

Seth continued trying to escape, but nothing worked. Nonetheless, he spent his entire orgasm attempting to halt it. When it ended, she had a slight bulge in her belly.

"No doubt about it. I'm pregnant for sure. Congrats daddy." She purred.

"You fucking bitch!" Seth growled.

"That's right. My powers can throw the body into heat. For males, that's lust, for females, they ovulate too. Right now all your little eevees are in my womb~"

"How dare you." Seth threatened, biting down on her neck. "I'm not helping you raise them. I'm leaving, and I will never see you again."

"Oh, so heartless!" She cried, sounding very exaggerated. "To abandon the mother of your own pups!"

"Wait... Are you joking?"

"HA!" She yelped. "Took you long enough dummy! I just trick the body horny, I can't do shit to reproduction! Haha, I really had you going!"

"..." Seth didn't know what to say. He was still pissed that she'd try that, but at least it wasn't true.

"I thought you seemed like a good male but that was pretty harsh. You were a good fuck though. Your mates are lucky to have you. If you know of any single guys, point 'em my way. If they're your friends they've gotta be nice."

A short time later, "Ha... there, done." Seth said as he pulled out of Flare. "Can I go to bed now?"

"Oh hell no, I didn't cum. And the others could use a refresher." Flare said. Vapor and Jolt rose. Vapor shot a burst of water towards the door, and Jolt jumped into it, letting her current flow into it. "Another round!" Flare commanded.

"Erherhmm." Someone cleared their throat. They all looked though the door, past the electrified water, to the glaceon standing there. "Girls?" Flurry asked. Jolt immediately stopped shocking the water. Flurry walked through it to Seth's side. "We'll talk about this later. Seth, you should probably come with me." She said, using her tassels to direct and shield him.

"Uhh, thanks." Seth said, feeling tired. She led him through the water, as it froze in her wake, leaving an icy trap for the girls. Flurry led him out into the hall, and over into her room. "Oh please no..." He muttered.

"It's alright. You must be tired after all that. If they were in season, you'd either be a dead male, or their mate now. But they weren't, so, you're off the hook. Just a victim of circumstance. I'll sort them out later. However, I did hear that bit about your forms. Sound travels well through here." She leaned forward and kissed him, forcing her tongue into his mouth, to lick across the roof of his mouth, before pulling out. "Is that enough?"

"Yeah, I think. Uh, thanks I guess. I'm going to sleep with my mates now." Seth said as he began to stumble back to his bed.

"And that would leave leafeon..." She said as he left.

He slowly moved through the hall, his body aching from exertion. He passed by the room where the girls were, where they were huddled up on the bed chatting, and went into the one he had been assigned. His girls were in there. Sky was asleep, but Soul raised her head.

"Have fun?" She asked.

"Not exactly." He walked closer and flopped onto his side, letting out a long sigh as he closed his eyes. Soul looked over and wanted to say something more, but he was out like a light.


	10. Chapter 9: Temple

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

Chp 9: Temple

"Morning." Seth said as he exited the bedroom and into the dining room. Everybody else was in there, chatting idly. He had slept the latest. He walked over, in between Soul and Sky. "So we're gonna move on to Snowpoint."

"Snowpoint? I thought we were doing the gyms. That's the wrong way." Soul said.

"She's right. We can't do that gym until later." Sky said.

"I know, but maybe we can catch a ride to Veilstone from the docks there. That will cut down a ton of walking time. Ready to go?" They nodded. "In that case, we'll be leaving. Thanks for letting us stay."

"If you come back around these parts, be sure to come visit." Flurry said. "Friends are always welcome in this den."

"He's a lot more than a friend." Flare snickered. This earned her a smack from Flurry's tassels.

"And one last thing." Seth said, going over to Dust and Drew. He squeezed in between them and gave Drew a kiss, forcing his tongue into the other males mouth. He pulled back quickly, and spat on the ground, as did Drew.

"What the fuck!?" Drew shouted.

"Got 'em all." Seth said. "Okay, let's go." He and the girls rushed out before Drew could respond.

The trip up to Snowpoint was uneventful, done at a rushed pace to escape the cold as soon as possible. Seth had turned human again, his clothes and backpack reforming when he did. Strangely, just as they arrived at the city, the snow started. Seth led the way to the southernmost part of the city, to the docks. Once there, he found a ship, advertised as for travel. He approached the small ship, talking to the captain who was sitting on the dock next to it.

"Hi, I'm looking to get to Veilstone." Seth said.

"Aye, I can do that. But not right now. A storm's brewin', and these are dangerous waters." He explained.

"Oh, okay. How's tomorrow sound?"

"We'll see. Weather isn't exactly... predictable."

Seth nodded and turned to leave.

"Well, what now? We just stay the night?" Soul asked.

"Yea." Seth said. He could talk freely as the 'city' was nearly abandoned. They passed by the gym, which was in the center of town, when Sky stopped them.

"Hey! What's that?" She said, looking north. There was a large building there, looking quite old.

"Wanna check it out?" Seth asked.

"Yes." She said, leading the way there.

"Welcome to Snowpoint Temple." A guard in front of the entrance said. "Please no capturing inside. This is a pokemon sanctuary."

"Will do." Seth said. The guard stepped aside to allow him in.

The temple was certainly an ancient structure, with strange architecture everywhere. There was a large statue with many dots in its surface. They were raised, like Braille. There were six on the statues face, looking like eyes.

"This is creepy..." Soul said. "All that's missing is the ominous music."

Sky walked closer and began to examine the statue up close. "Speak for yourself. This is cool." She placed her palm on the base of it. Seth walked closer to join her. "Wow, feel this."

Seth reached his hand out and placed it next to her paw. The stone felt odd. It didn't feel like anything he had felt before, as if there was some... thrumming in it, some kind of energy. Suddenly, the sound of grating stone began. The statue began to move back, revealing a staircase leading down into the temple. "What the..."

Sky started to descend. "C'mon, let's check this out."

"Okay, now I'm creeped out. But we can't just let her go in alone." He said, following her, with Soul taking up the rear. They went down, down, down... until they came into a large room. In the center of the room was a large pedestal, with a depression in the center. Seth and Sky walked closer to investigate, while Soul remained apprehensively near the exit.

The pedestal was raised up about three feet, at around Seth's waist. Sky had to stretch to look at it. It had a strange depression, pressed into the stone. Seth experimentally counted the sides of the shape, coming to seventeen. "What could have been here?" It was very obvious that whatever had been in the pedestal had been missing for a long time, or never existed at all, as a thick layer of dust rested in it. Up ahead, there were three paths, one in each direction.

Sky began wandering down one, and they followed, letting her explore. They went down a path, until coming to a new room, nearly identical to the last, except with no exit stairs, and no pedestal. "Oh god..." Seth muttered. "It's a maze."

"Well, it's an actual structure, so there must be limited space."

"I got that one." Seth said, turning anthro lucario. He swung his fist into the wall, leaving a hole. "Trail marker." He said.

"I don't really approve of damaging the ruins..." Sky said.

"We're not getting lost." Seth said.

About twenty minutes of exploring later, and Soul began to grow impatient. "You ever think that maybe there's nothing here?"

"We've got to be close to the end." Sky said optimistically.

Just after she said this, they came into a different room. In the center was a large block of stone. It was chiseled with some kind of design, but it didn't mean anything to them, besides looking cool. It was huge, stretching up to the roof, easily over ten feet tall.

Sky began to walk towards it with Seth in tow, before Soul yelled. "Stop!" They stopped and looked at her. "There is... something here. Can you feel it? It's like the air is shaking."

Sky stopped and looked up. "There is something here. Something alive, besides us."

Seth began to look for aura, feeling the same something they were. It was coming from the stone block. Something was in there. Something alive, as it had an aura. Seth walked up and clenched his fist. "Someone's trapped in here!"

"Wait! Are you sure that's a good idea?" Soul said.

"If someone is in there, they need out." He reeled back and punched it hard. The stone was actually not solid, only a layer surrounding someone. It cracked and chipped, crumbling as he punched a few more times. The rock fell to the ground, revealing a massive behemoth of a pokemon. It had a white body, gold ornaments, and moss growing on its body. "What the hell?" Seth said.

It let out a loud creaking sound as it began to move. "Trespassers..." It said slowly. One of its large hand moved up and pointed at Sky, and then Soul. "Begone..." It took a step forward, the ground shaking. It slowly raised a hand into the air, before it swiftly slammed into the ground, causing a massive shake. A trail of energy ran through the ground, towards Soul, who dodged to the side.

"Shit!" She yelled. Seth delivered another punch, this time to the pokemon, but it did nothing, hurting Seth's hand more.

"Should we run?!" Sky yelled.

"No way we can make it out with this thing chasing us. We'll have to beat it." Seth said, trying an aura sphere. Sky used psychic, but was unable to lift the monster, and Soul charged forward, launching several night slashes. All the attacks just bounced off. It raised its arms and let out a burst of energy, pushing them all back.

"Should we mega evolve?!" Soul asked.

"No, that probably won't cut it... Shit... Maybe we should try to run." Seth said.

"I am Regigigas. None who trespass among these halls may escape. I do not know how you entered, but you will die here." The gigantic pokemon said, talking a bit faster, but still in a slow drawl.

"But we didn't mean to!" Sky cried. "We promise to never tell anyone!"

"Silence!" Regigigas roared. The entire structure shook. It pointed at her, and a large beam shot out. It looked like Sky was going to get hit, until Soul shot forward, mega evolving. Her furry wings gave her the speed she needed to rescue Sky. After pushing Sky out of the way, she spun in midair, slashing a huge night slash through the air at it. The wave of darkness exploded, once again with no effect.

"Really?! We need to go, now!" Soul shouted. She helped Sky up, before they both ran for the hall out.

"No escape." Regigigas repeated. It planted a fist into the ground, and a burst of energy exploded in front of the girls, halting their escape.

"Seth... maybe you should do that thing..." Soul said.

"But..." He said, knowing exactly what she meant. The trump card. "I can't while-"

"We'll run and get as far away as we can. You just distract him. If anything can beat him, it's that."

"What?! What is he gonna do?!" Sky asked.

"I'll explain later. We need to go." Soul said.

"Stop." Regigigas said, preparing another attack.

"HEY!" Seth roared at the top of his lungs. "I'm your enemy now." He closed his eyes and focused. Forms... he had four at that point. While he was a hybrid, he had always wondered if he could be a hybrid pokemon, half one and half another. That time he had only tried two, lucario and absol. Now, he went for all four.

His body bulged, shifting around, as it warped and mangled briefly. His general shape remained that of an anthro lucario. Where his paw spikes were, an absol horn grew, giving him two scythe like blades, one on the back of each hand. A section of his head hardened into a red gem, and his tail split and shrunk into an espeon one. From his head grew the hair of a zoroark, as his aura sensor went back into his body. At the base of this was a ring of fur instead of an orb. Two similar ones puffed out around his feet. He drew in a ragged breath, his eyes opening again.

"Abomination." Regigigas said. It thrust its fist forward, aiming right for Seth.

Seth punched back, a huge shockwave bursting from the impact of their fists. As Regigigas drew back for another attack, Seth vanished. He had jumped, and spun around, delivering a powerful spinning kick into its arm. This time, it actually moved. It had felt that hit. Before Regigigas could respond, Seth vanished again, appearing behind it and slashing down with the large sickles on his hands. Two bloody lines ripped into its back.

Regigigas spun around, much more swiftly than before, and reached out for Seth. It wrapped a hand around Seth's leg, and squeezed, bones popping under the crushing force. Seth swung his head down, the large strand of hair on his back swinging forward and driving the pointed end into Regigigas. The attack was equally strong, cracking bones under the force. Seth pulled his leg out of the grip, and began to run up Regigigas' arm. As he did, fragments of bone poked through the skin of his leg, leaving blood running from his mangled leg. Nevertheless, he kept running, as if it didn't hurt, he dashed right past Regigigas, swinging his arm at its neck. This left a large gash along the path, before Seth swung the scythe back, stabbing it into Regigigas' neck. The very tip of it poked out the other end. Seth then twisted his blade, tearing an even larger hole in the behemoth's neck.

Regigigas' arm glowed, and it swung back, smashing into Seth, directly in the chest. Bones audibly cracked, and Seth's chest dented in, as his shattered ribs tore him up. The force of the attack sent him rolling back.

"What are you?" Regigigas said. Its voice did not change, despite the hole in its neck, but it was visibly injured and tiring. It held up both hands, building up energy in both. "I will destroy. You can not exist." A huge beam fired out, going straight for Seth.

Seth roared loudly, a burst of aura leaving his body. He charged forward, right into the beam. The powerful energy tore at his already battered body, ripping off chunks of flesh. Seth kept going, coming right up to Regigigas. He lowered his head, the tendril of hair coming forward, a shine running through it, as it began to spear forward in rapid succession, the tip stabbing into Regigigas' Chest. Regigigas cupped its fist together and slammed them down, a burst of energy flying outward.

Seth only moved to the side, the energy tearing him up more. He thrust his fist forward, aura coating his arm. The fist flew right through the battered Regigigas, breaking right into his chest in a explosion of blood. Seth's paw wrapped around its mammoth heart, and squeezed, the organ rupturing under the strain.

"SHIT! Ass fuck dammit!" Soul shouted, swinging her horn against the rocks. They had run into a collapse, caused by the every growing quakes coming from the fight. She couldn't make any headway, the rocks were too tough, and there were too many. Even her mega evolved body could do little more than scratch the ancient rocks.

"Maybe when Seth gets here he could bust through?" Sky said, sounding worried. She kept looking back.

"Don't worry. A while ago, he tried to become more than one form at once. It worked, but he went berserk. He'll be fine. I just hope..." She tried a few more times, but failed. She reverted to normal and sat down. "We're shit out of luck." She finally spat.

The battle soon grew quiet. And then, noises, drawing closer. Soul stood back up and mega evolved again, growling at the noises.

"Its... okay." Seth said, crawling forward, using his arms and one good leg to push himself forward.

"Seth!" Sky screamed. She ran to his side, and Soul did too after she returned to normal. He was covered in blood, white bits of bone poking out in several places.

"I'm..." He drew in a shuddering, labored breath. "I'm fine." He said, moving towards a wall and sitting against it. He was an anthro lucario now. He ran a hand over his mangled chest.

"You are not fine! We need to get you help!" Sky begged.

"We can't get through that wall. A fighting type could maybe, but..." Soul said.

"Yea, I'll get on that." Seth said quietly. "Just, let me rest first." He leaned his head back. "It's really hard to breath." He muttered. He reached down and put a hand on each of the girl's heads.

"I'm sorry..." Sky said. "It's my fault we got into this mess."

"Meh, we would have got into some kind of trouble sooner or later." Soul said. She looked up at Seth, but he was unconscious. "This is bad. Know any healing moves?"

"Morning sun, but that only works outside." Sky sounded depressed.

"We've been through worse. We'll make it."


	11. Chapter 10: Celestial

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

Chp 10: Celestial

"Ugh..." Seth groaned. He opened his eyes expecting to be in the temple, with dark stone corridors all around him. Instead, it was a ceiling, a human building one. He turned his head to look at the room, his neck aching. It was a small room, with lots of girly stuff, pokemon plushy, frilly wallpaper, and a big dollhouse in one corner. The presumed owner was sitting on a chair, reading a book. She looked to be about five or maybe six. She looked up and saw Seth was awake.

She bolted up, dropping her book, and ran out of the room. "Mommy, he's up!" A moment later, Soul came rushing around the corner into the open door. She slid a bit on the hardwood floor, before turning and almost sprinting into the room. But a hand reached out and grabbed her by the horn.

"No, you have to stop. He is in a very fragile state. I know you want to see him, but that's all you can do: look, don't touch." A mature voice said. The woman it belonged to stepped around the corner and past Soul. Seth could see Sky poking her head around the corner. The woman had long blonde hair, almost touching the floor.

"Where..." was all Seth could make himself say.

"Don't even try to get up. Just relax. Everything is okay. No one, besides you, is hurt." She sat down on the chair, which was far too big for her, but she did so gracefully. "Let's start from the beginning. I am Cynthia, you are in Celestic town."

"How..." Seth tried to say.

"Just relax and allow me to explain everything. I found you here two days ago, lying in the middle of the road. I took you here to recover. Given your... 'condition', I thought it would be better for you." Seth looked down, but his head did not move. He did see the blue fur on his face and shoulder. "I see you are a hybrid." Seth's eyes widened. "No, no, it's alright." She said, holding up her hands. "My own daughter is a hybrid, the one who's room you are in. We're waiting to tell her once she's older. I'm no doctor, but I treated you as best I could. By the way, pokemon medicine works on you, when you are in that form, and it can also be used to heal real wounds, not just the fatigue of battles. It isn't as effective as proper medical care however." She stood. "Girls, why don't you go back to eating. He needs rest right now."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Soul asked. "We can take you to the pokemon center."

"That shouldn't be necessary. Pokemon, and by extension hybrids, have amazing regenerative capabilities. He just needs some time." Cynthia said, as she ushered the girls out. She shut and locked the door behind them. "Your mates really care for you." Seth opened his mouth, but she seemingly read his mind. "Yes, I can understand pokemon. You see, I used to be a big time trainer. I was even champion. Out of all my adventures, I honestly don't remember when I learned how to communicate with them. There are several things I want to talk to you about, but I will start with you."

She came and sat back down, scooting the chair closer. "Whatever happened to you, you were in bad shape. I mean bad. Your entire skeletal structure was damaged in some way, with your ribs and right leg being almost completely crushed. I had to use nearly twenty full restores to stop all the bleeding, most of it internal. Your muscles are a mess. Your body may knit itself back together, but that kind of healing will come at a cost. Your life span will likely take the brunt of it. It may also affect your functioning for the rest of your life, though I could not tell you how. Whatever you did, don't ever do it again. If no one had found you, you would have died, no question about it. Had it not been me, you would have been taken to the pokemon center, where they would have no doubt discovered your true identity."

She sighed. "Now, as for our shared interest. I have discovered... three other hybrids, besides my daughter. From what I've learned, only humanlike egg group pokemon can breed with humans. A lucario is my mate. Hybrids gain the ability to transform from intimate contact with that species. To my knowledge, there is no limit of forms. As for your forms, they directly feed into each other. Your pokemon form has all the strength of pokemon. Your human form is mostly separate. Training in one form powers up your entire being, however not as much. Your human form can draw on the strengths of pokemon. Your hybrid form is unique. It draws on both, but if one is lopsided, it is weaker. Your entire being is one, but each form is based on its own base power, while your own amplifies it. Understand?"

Seth was still unable to speak, but he could think just fine. That was why his hybrid form seemed so much weaker. He had never done any human training. It had all been focused on his pokemon form. He had learned to use aura as a human, barely, and draw upon pokemon strength for brief periods, but he had never done any real training, no real body exercise. It all came from his pokemon half. He had always drawn on the power of pokemon instead of his human power. That was the idea of his... it didn't really have a name. Maybe chimera form. Combine as much pokemon power as possbile. But if it had the costs she said it did...

"I assume you've discovered some these things yourself, but I thought I'd fill you in. A certain trainer out of Johto was a hybrid, and he was a very skilled trainer, able to compete among the legends. He taught me most of that."

"So now, I suppose I should explain more about myself. As I said, I once was the champion of Sinnoh, before I was defeated. I then went out on an adventure, to see more of the world. Archeology has always been among my interests, and I discovered many interesting things. I have since retired back to my home town. I don't do much these days. Based on some dust I found in your fur, you were in some ruins. There are only four places you could have gotten that dust on you. Snowpoint Temple, Solaceon Ruins, Spear Pillar, and here in Celestic town. They are all structures built by ancient Sinnoh people... Well, there is actually one more. As I know a lot of secrets about you... there is a place called Sendoff Spring. It is a very dangerous place. If you had been there... and that would explain how you got here... Is that where you were?"

"No..." Seth managed to say. "Snow...point."

"The temple there? How on earth did you get here in the shape you were in? Wait, don't explain now. Save your energy. I would guess you had an encounter with Regigigas. That legendary pokemon could have inflicted the kind of damage you have. But then... When you are better, I expect the full story. Soul and Sky told me all they could, but I want your perspective." She stood. "Alright, I guess you're hungry, so I'll bring you something easy."

She left and soon returned with a bowl of hot soup. "Do you think you can eat?"

Seth slowly and shakily sat up. "Y...yeah." The soup, and some crackers, were on a shelf designed for eating in bed. She nodded and left, closing the door behind her. Seth reached up, his entire body aching, and took hold of the spoon. He had to wait for his hand to stop shaking, before lifting it into his mouth. The hot liquid felt good on his sore throat. If he really had been unconscious for two days, no wonder he felt so bad.

"You're lucky you know. Momma is the nicest lady in town."

Seth looked towards the source, to find the girl from earlier looking through the window. She had to be standing on something, but he couldn't see what it was. "You're awfully mature."

"Yep. Momma says I'm special. I also heard her say that if you were out much longer she'd have to take you to the hospital and that that would be a bad thing."

"So how is he?" Soul asked as Cynthia returned to the dining room. Sky wanted to know the same thing, but Soul had asked first.

"He's not in any immediate danger. Rest and rejuvenation. That's the best thing he can do."

"Would you like me to try my hand at healing him?" Cynthia's lucario asked.

"No. It's best to let things proceed naturally." Cynthia turned to Soul. "You can stay as long as you need to."

"Thank you so much." Sky said.

Soul got up, soup still dripping from her chin, and walked down the hall. "Hey, come open the door for me!" She yelled back.

Cynthia did come, but paused. "On one condition. No touching." She opened the door, which was not pokemon friendly, having a slippery knob. Only a pokemon like lucario could grip it enough to twist it. Soul slipped in and walked over to Seth, and Cynthia closed the door. "I'll give you some privacy. Just yell when you want out."

"So, how was it?" Soul asked.

"The fight or the transformation?" Seth asked. It felt a lot easier to talk now that he had had something to eat and drink.

"Both."

"Well, first of all, I don't really remember anything of substance. It feels kinda like a dream. That one time, I just did lucario and absol. This time I did lucario, espeon, zoroark, and lopunny. I know I killed Regigigas, and he called me an abomination. And he fucked me up."

"So how did we escape? You showed up human again and passed out. I couldn't break through those rocks, neither could Sky, and you were in no condition to."

"That's what I want to know." Seth said. He closed his eyes and laid back. "I remember one thing. 'Live'. That's it. Maybe it was Mewtwo? She always shows up to bail us out."

"I wish that bitch would just leave us alone."

"She did teach me a lot about my transformations. But then why leave us in the street? Did she know about Cynthia?"

"Hey Cynthia!" Soul yelled.

A little later she opened the door. "Yes?"

"Know a pokemon named Mewtwo?"

"Yes, but not personally. That pokemon is one of a kind, created by a group called team rocket in an effort to clone Mew. It is known to be a very solitary pokemon with incredible power."

"Well first of all its a she." Soul said.

"A legendary pokemon with a gender? I suppose. Science hasn't really caught up to the legendaries."

"And what about Regigigas?"

"The continent puller, master of the golems. What do you know about that one?"

"Well we fought it and killed it." Soul said plainly. Both Cynthia and Seth's mouths dropped.

"You've... You must be joking. It is nearly impossible to kill a legendary pokemon. They are incredibly strong and live for thousands of years. To do such a thing would throw the world into disarray." She said. After Soul's expression did not change, she leaned against the wall. "Dear Arceus... what have I gotten myself into. Listen. I'm retired. Just don't do that again. There's no telling what could happen."

"That wasn't the plan. That thing just kinda showed up and attacked, and we had to defend ourselves." Seth said.

"What about your-"

Seth hit her head lightly, stopping her. He grunted and grit his teeth at the shock that run through his arm. "That's about it. Thanks for explaining."

Cynthia looked suspiciously, before closing the door.

"Why not tell her?" Soul asked. "She's been nothing but nice."

"Because I don't want to. Humans are fickle. If she thinks I'm a dangerous monster..."

"I'll never understand all that. If she finds out, she'll just be mad you lied to her."

"Whatever, just keep things hushed. And don't tell Sky about my new form. I don't want to scare her. I know she won't be scared of me or anything, but it'll make her worry."

"Fine. Only for you." Soul said, coming closer and kissing him on the cheek. "And I'm still waiting on payback for those eevee girls. When you're feeling better of course." She turned, putting her rear, and the faint bit of blue flesh there, in his view, before opening the cracked door and leaving.

"So tell me more about your archeology." Sky asked.

"Interested? I've found many things. There were even some ruins north of the Johto region. They showed signs of collaboration between the people of Sinnoh and Johto. They were called the Sinjoh ruins. If you ask Seth, he can probably find an article about it. I also helped discover two unique altars to legendary pokemon here in Sinnoh. Here in Celestic town, there is one for Dialga and Palkia. At the peak of Mt. Coronet is a similar one. That one appears to be an ancient place of worship for Arceus. A kind of church. If you don't know about the legendary pokemon of Sinnoh, Dialga and Palkia, I can assure you they are real. I've seen them both. Dialga the creator of time and Palkia the creator of space. Arceus, however, I have found no conclusive evidence of its existence. While I would rather not look down on centuries of culture, I am more convinced by proof."

"You may want to stop. She could talk for days about this." Lucario whispered to Sky.

"Oh, sorry. I do get carried away." Cynthia admitted.

"No, it's alright. I find it really fascinating."

"Well I don't." Soul said. "Boring, boring, boring. There any soup left?"

"Yes, you can just have the rest of the pot if you'd like." Cynthia said.

"I didn't cook that for one person. The rest is for later." Lucario said.

"We don't have guests every day, love. Let her have it."

Soul didn't pay them any mind, instead trotting into the kitchen to scour for more food. Once there, she began to eat the soup right out of the pot. The kitchen counter, stove, and everything else was low, enough that Lucario would have easy access. This helped Soul to eat more as well. As she pigged out, she felt a hand on her flank. She turned back, soup dripping from her fur, to see the little girl petting her.

"You're soft." She commented.

"What's your name anyways?" Soul asked.

"Alexis, but daddy calls me Alex. Lucario isn't my real daddy though. He just helps mommy raise me. But I love him too, so I call him daddy."

"Yeah..." Soul said, going back to eating.

"So you two have been sleeping on the floor?" Seth asked. It was later that night, and everyone had retired to their respective rooms. Alexis, with her room being occupied, was with her parents.

"Yea, Cynthia said we can't sleep with you." Sky said.

"I'm fine. I'm not too frail to handle my girls, hop on up." He said, lightly patting the side of the bed. Soul climbed up first, planting herself lightly onto his covered chest. Seth grunted painfully. "Okay, maybe not. Just lay beside me." He said. She climbed off and onto one side, lying down, as Sky climbed to his other side. The bed was small, meant for a lone little girl, so it was tight. He reached down and carefully touched his black bruised chest. His leg was in a similar state, blackened and aching. So much as twitching it made him want to scream.

Soul twitched her leg, poking one of her claws lightly into his injured leg. Seth grunted and pulled away reflexively, causing much more pain. "Oh shit, sorry." Soul said. She leaned over and licked his blue furred cheek. "Why are you still lucario?"

"Pokemon healing speed. I figure the longer I stay like this, the faster I'll get better."

"You've never stayed pokemon this long either." Sky said.

"Exactly." He sighed. "I thought we were plenty tough, but we need to be even stronger. We have to be unbeatable. Bad shit just keeps happening and we keep getting beat up. If I can find a way, I'll be in our gym matches."

"Yeah, I was thinkin' about that one. Why don't we find some new teammates? I was thinking we should've asked Dust and Drew, but we rushed out of there so fast." Soul said.

"They had their own lives. We didn't need to drag them into our problems."

"We could really use the help."

Seth sighed. "I'll be honest. I don't think I'm ready for anyone else to come with. I don't want to have to worry about anyone else until I... we're strong enough to protect those we love. And at this point, we are not."

"I can agree with you there. I'm the strongest here, but I couldn't do anything last time." Soul said. "But we would be stronger with more team members. We just have to find someone at our level or better."

"That won't be easy..." Sky muttered. She sounded sleepy and she was cuddled close to Seth, nestling her head on her shoulder. "Wild pokemon aren't usually strong, and most strong pokemon are already owned..." She expected some kind of response, but the others were silent, or more likely asleep.


	12. Chapter 11: Veilstone

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

Chp 11: Veilstone

"Alright, thanks for taking care of me, but we need to get back on the road." Seth said.

"Are you sure you don't need anything else?" Cynthia asked.

"No, this'll do it." Seth said, shaking the crutch she had given him. His entire body ached, and it was hard to keep standing, but he kept telling himself it was training. It didn't help the pain, but it did force him to keep moving. He was still stiff from having been stationary for so long. He was human again, and now that healing factor was gone.

"I don't mind waiting a bit longer..." Sky offered.

"No, I can't stand being cooped up any more. I'll make it, just fine." He said, walking towards the door.

"Bye lucario man!" Alexis called. "Come visit again!"

"Yes, it was nice having you here. This town is quiet and we don't often see many travelers. Most trainers go through Hearthome." Cynthia said.

"We'll see. We've got three gyms before we cross Mt. Coronet again." Seth said.

Now outside, they passed through the small town of Celestic, coming out onto route 210. As they neared a staircase, Seth surveyed the path ahead.

"Shit..." He muttered. It was rocky, with many paths up and down, with bridges connecting canyons. And there he was, with a busted up leg. There was no telling how damaged it really was at this point. It hurt like hell to put pressure on it, and the skin was covered in dark purple bruises. It wasn't mangled into bizarre shapes anymore, but he still might have broken bones.

"Why don't we just go back to the pokemon center and get you treated?" Sky asked.

Seth looked around. There were a few trainers up ahead, a pair even battling, but none within earshot. "No. I... Remember how I said I need to get stronger? My pokemon form is fine, but I'm weak like this. I can heal overnight, and fight through the pain during the day. If I can handle all this, it'll help my pain tolerance."

"I know pokemon can heal wounds quick, but I don't think it works like that." Soul said.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now..." He began to carefully hobble down the stairs. The stairs, meant to be used by travelers of all kind, were wide and easy to navigate. They proceeded slowly, mostly because of Seth, but Sky became the problem when they started crossing bridges. Far below them was a stream of water.

"There's like nothing down there." Soul said. "How can you be scared of that?"

"It's not the water." Sky said. "It's the heights."

They continued at this slow pace, for about an hour. After a trek through some tall grass, they arrived at a clearing, with a signpost. To the south was Solaceon town, and to the east was Veilstone. But what really caught Seth's attention was the small building there. On the sign out front was 'Cafe Cabin'.

"Seems like a restaurant." Seth said. "I could use a break." Seth pushed open the door and stepped inside, a bell ringing as he did.

"Be right with you!" Somebody shouted from the kitchen. Seth approached the counter, looking down at the menu left there. A couple things caught his eyes. Homemade chili, fresh every day, and fresh moomoo milkshakes. A young lady, wearing an apron, came out. "What can I get you?"

"Yea, three bowls of chili, and..." He looked down at the girls. "Three milkshakes. One large, and the other two small."

"Alright." She swiped his card. "It'll be right out."

Seth hobbled over to a table, slumping into it and letting out a long sigh. The place was mostly abandoned, only one other person there, and he was just leaving. After only a couple minutes, the waitress came out with a tray containing their food.

Now with food in front of her, Soul immediately went to town, burying her head in the bowl of spiced soup. Sky just looked at it, and then at her milkshake. "Why did you cheap out and get us the small ones?" Soul complained.

"I didn't know if you'd like them. If you want more I'll get some." He said. He reached over to the nearby bowl of cracker packets, and took a handful, tearing them open to dump them onto his chili. As he used his spoon to take a mouthful, he noticed Sky. "What's wrong?" He mumbled through a full mouth.

"Isn't this like... contradicting flavors? Spicy and sweet?"

Seth reached over and poured a few crackers into her chili, stirring it for her. While he did, he grit his teeth. The act of stretching over the table hurt, a lot, especially in his back. "Go ahead and try it."

She delicate stuck her tongue out, licking up a bit of chili, before taking a sip of milkshake. She licked her lips, before going in for more. Soul was eating the exact opposite way, like a savage animal.

Seth finally got a chance to drink some of his milkshake. It was thick, taking a long time to get up the straw, but once it did, he was in heaven. "That's a good fuckin' milkshake."

"I'll say. Get me another one." Soul said.

"Ugh, really? Already? You're supposed to savor it, not suck it down."

After their meal, they got back on the road, heading east. They didn't make it far before a loud crack of thunder shook the air. The clouds above were dark and heavy with rain. Soon, it began to fall. Seth took out an umbrella that he had brought, but the girls weren't so lucky. Sky was enjoying the cooling sprinkle, but Soul had a angry scowl on her face. The rain wetted her fur and matted it down, making her look ragged. Soon the weather got worse, now with bigger and more raindrops. Sky erected a thin layer of psychic energy around her, just enough to deflect most of the rain. Soul however, could do little.

Suddenly the rain stopped hitting her head and back. She looked up to see Seth holding the umbrella over her with his not crutch holding hand. This allowed all the rain to hit him. She still had to step in the building mud and puddles, but that was the least of her worries. "Hey, look, I appreciate it, but don't you think-"

"No. If I'm too hurt to help my girls, I'm too hurt to be up and about. And I don't have fur, so I'll dry out faster. Let's just get through this before the ground turns to mush."

They speed up as much as possible, but not fast enough to reach Veilstone without being soaked. As they entered the industrial town, the rain calmed down, but it was still drizzling. Sky was the least relatively wet, as her short fur and psychic shield worked wonders. Soul was next in line. Her paws were darkened and dirty with mud, but her upper half was in better shape. Seth, with no cover, was soaked. Water dripped down his body, and his clothing was weighed down with the water. "Alright, let's go get us a room. I need a hot shower."

After they got checked into their room at the pokemon center, Seth peeled off his wet clothes, draped them over the shower rod, and got in, with the water on hot. He allowed Sky to get in first, and he followed. He sighed as the warm water ran over his body. "Rain sucks. Why does it have to be so cold?"

"I kinda like it. Fur doesn't vent well."

"Yeah... Soul?" He asked when he heard claws clicking on the floor.

She poked her head in on the far side. "I can't get the mud off..." She muttered. She began to step in, hesitating for a moment.

"It's going to be tight. I'm plenty clean so I'll just hop out." Sky said. She traded places with Soul, and got out, sitting on the mat just outside.

Soul grumbled as she ducked under the water, and put her paw into the stream. She rubbed it against the floor and grumbled more as the dirt remained.

Seth grunted as he began to kneel down on his injured leg, and then switched. He held out a hand, motioning for her to give him her paw. She did, and he began to scrub the dirt from her fur.

"A little heavy on the Mew imagery?"

"The son of Arceus? Oh, the feet washing thing. I don't think Mew fucked the people he washed the feet of." In Originism, the religion of Arceus, Mew was the messenger of pokemon, a pokemon sent to our world to teach humans to respect pokemon. He was known as a benevolent soul. "Ya know, I've always wondered about something. Mewtwo, Cynthia said she was a clone of Mew, so Mew had to have existed. Maybe Mew's species still exists." He let her switch to the next paw. "Oh, and I bought something special a while ago. Sky, you still out there?"

"Yes."

"Alright, but the catch is we're going to the gym afterwards."

"I guess we have time." Soul said, turning so he could clean her hind paws. Her snow white fur was soon pristine, besides the wetness. Her coat was usually puffy, but when wet, it made her look like a giant drowned rat. Most of her bulk came from her fur, making her look gaunt as well.

Seth stood back up. "Alright." He turned the water off. "Stay here, I'll be back." He grabbed a towel for himself, then left the room, returning shortly after. He had a two fancy looking brushes in hand. "I bought specialty pokemon brushes for the both of you." Sky's was pink with small sparkly hearts on it, and was designed for short furred species. Soul's was for long fur, and was black with a white stripe down the middle. "Sky, I assume Soul wants to go first, so you mind waiting?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"And here we are." Seth said as they came up to the gym. It was tucked a bit out of the way, and had taken a little exploring to find in the big city. "Let's do it."

The doors slid open, and they were immediately met with the musty smell of sweat. The gym was very different from the last two. Oreburgh had been formal, and Eterna had a maze, though they did skip it. This one was basically a gym, the wieght lifting kind. It was late in the day, so there weren't too many people inside. The center held the 'pokemon ring' which was actually a boxing ring. In the center was a girl, sparring with a lucario.

"Uhh, are you the gym leader?" Seth asked as he approached.

"Yep. Maylene's the name." She said, coming over and offering her hand through the ropes.

"Seth." He said as he shook her hand. "I'd like to challenge you to a battle."

"Hop on up then." She helped Seth up by pulling his arm. He had left his crutch behind and was putting on his best tough act to not make her think he was weak or scared. "So, for my gym, it's a two on two battle. Human versus human and pokemon versus pokemon at the same time. The battle ends when either side is out. So basically, you have to last against me until your pokemon can beat mine."

"Uhh, you sure about this?" Soul said.

"Alright. Sky, you're with me." Seth said.

"Your absol will have to sit outside." Maylene said as Sky climbed in. "Begin!"

Her lucario dashed forward, beginning to attack Sky, as she dodged and attempted to mount an offense.

Maylene did similar as she charged Seth, who took up a fighting stance similar to that which he would use in lucario form. But Maylene was too fast, as she ducked under his first swing, and delivered two strong punches to him, one in the chest and the other in the gut, before sweeping his leg. Seth fell, and couldn't catch himself in time, slamming his head into the softened mat. He coughed, a spatter of blood shooting out.

"Seth!" Sky cried. Lucario took the advantage, jumping forward to pin her.

"Shit!" Maylene yelled, kneeling down. "What the hell!? I didn't hit you that hard!" She lifted his shirt and drew in a sharp breath. "What... How... Why did you even try to fight me?! You're beat up bad already!" A couple people around the gym were watching. "Dammit... C'mon, you're going to the pokemon center." She said, lifting Seth up and propping him up with her own body.

"I'm fine." Seth muttered, blood dribbling down his chin.

"Bull."

"So what made you think this was a good idea?" Maylene asked.

"I agree. That was incredibly stupid." The nurse said. "You already had several cracked ribs, and those punches tore open your internal wounds. You could have bled to death."

"Yeah, alright, I get it." Seth said. "Am I good to go now?"

"Hardly good, but you can leave if you like. Take it very easy. Your bones are still healing and too much strain right now could cause more bleeding."

"Will do." Seth said. He left the rear of the pokemon center, limping visibly, and took the elevator to his room. The girls were waiting in the room.

"What did she say?" Sky asked.

"How did you know the doctor was a she?" Seth said.

"Probably because all of them are." Soul added.

"Please don't dodge the question." Sky said.

"I need to take it easy or I'll bleed more. Or break my bones again."

"You really do need to take more time to heal." Sky said.

"Yeah, I had an idea for that." Seth turned lucario and laid down on the bed. "I'm just gonna relax for the day." He said.

"Kay." Soul said, hopping onto the bed and turning the TV on.

Seth raised an arm, formed a pink ring in his hand, before pushing it into his chest.

"Heal pulse?" Sky asked. "Didn't Cynthia say you needed to heal naturally?"

"Yeah, but I don't wanna just sit around for a week."

"But..."

"You can do whatever you want, but you have to live with the consequences. Just think about us while you tear your body apart."

"Will do." Seth said, continuing to slowly apply heal pulses. "Tomorrow, we're going back for Maylene."

"If you can last against her, I can take down her lucario just fine. One shot." Soul said.

"That's the plan then."


	13. Chapter 12: Workout

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

Chp 12: Workout

"Maylene?" Seth said.

"Oh, hey." She said, breaking off her fight with her lucario and turning to face him.

"Ready for our rematch?"

"Are you okay? Like in the head? Cause no sane person would try again after yesterday."

"Well I-"

"No. I will not fight you... but against my better judgment, I will allow you full access to the gym. You can train up as much as you want here, and I will fight you once you are fully, _FULLY_ , healed." She said.

"Wait, can trainers not use this gym for free?"

"Well the league gym part, yeah, but the equipment and stuff requires a membership, usually. Let's just say that conviction of yours reminds me of myself. And I swear, if you kill yourself in my gym, I will chase you into the afterlife and kick your ass."

"Okay..." Seth said, looking around. "I have never been to a gym in my life..." He muttered. He crossed over to some weights. He had to be careful in here though. Usually, he would transform for a split second to do any heavy lifting, and adrenaline could start his transformations. In here, he would have to remain fully human. He had about two seconds if he changed forms accidentally before fur would come out. He was committed to getting stronger as a human, and fighting Maylene, as a full human, would be the perfect goal.

"Me and Sky are gonna hit the treadmills." Soul said.

He nodded. He experimentally picked up a few weights, until he found one that felt heavy enough. With it in hand, he went over to the girls and sat on a bench nearby. He began to do curls while watching the girls. This place was not meant only for humans, and most equipment was set up so that pokemon could use them. The treadmills came in several sizes, with controls also located on the base too. Soul and Sky both claimed one, Soul having hers on high as she sprinted, and Sky at a slow jog. Seth's healing last night had helped a lot. He no longer needed the crutch, and it was longer agony to merely exist. He was still sore though, and moving was difficult. That and the pain of breathing. But it was nothing he couldn't handle.

There was a TV on hanging from the nearby wall, but the sounds from the rest of the gym drowned it out. There were subtitles on however. "Breaking news from Solaceon Town. The day care-"

"Boring." Soul muttered, hopping off and changing the channel with the remote that sat below the TV.

After a while, Seth experimentally flexed his leg. "I think I'll take a run." He went over to return the weights, and got onto a treadmill, right next to Soul.

"Hey, wanna race?" Soul said.

"Alright."

"Top speed, first one to stop loses." She said, cranking it up.

Seth turned his up too, having to immediately go all out sprinting to avoid falling off. Soul was also hauling ass. After about thirty seconds, with Seth's lungs burning and legs screaming, he felt his skin prickle. He tried to hold it off, but the distraction caused him to step forward wrong, forcing him to jump onto the sides or slide off.

"Ha, my win!" Soul gloated.

Seth turned the treadmill off, slumping over on it to catch his breath. "Alright... Let's go home."

They arrived back in the room, Seth collapsing on the bed.

"Remote." Soul said.

"Shit, I don't think I can even move."

Soul got up and walked over him, reaching across and pulling the remote onto the bed and to the foot. Things went as usual for the rest of the day, just all of them relaxing from a few hours of exercise. Once the sun set, Seth didn't bother, or want, to get up and turn the lights on, so they just sat with the light of the TV. Sky had migrated up to Seth's side, allowing him to slowly pet her.

Once it was time for bed, Soul shut off the TV and crawled on top of Seth. "So, I recall you owing me something."

"Yea, I know, but I can barely move."

"Just relax and let me take care of everything~"

"Alright, I think I can manage." His entire body clenched under her as he swiftly transformed into an anthro absol. "Sky?"

"I'm fine. You two go ahead." She said, curling up, but still watching.

Soul moved up a bit, so her rear was in the right place. His clothing had merged with his human form and been replaced with a luxurious white coat, similar to hers, but shorter. When he transformed, first fur sprouted, and then his clothes faded away. They always reappeared after he turned back though. The only thing that was unique to his pokemon forms was on his lucario one, which was missing half its aura sensors, and had a collar.

She lowered and began to rub her damp lips against his sheath. But nothing happened. "What's up?"

"I dunno. I guess I hurt too much for a boner. Or too exhausted. I'm not resisting or anything, it's just not happening."

"Oh..." Soul said, sounding a bit depressed. She rolled over, going belly up next to him and cuddling into his furry side.

"Sound's like someone else misses being intimate too." Sky said.

"Kinda. No cock for three months can do that to a girl."

"That's just her way of saying she loves you." Sky said.

Soul glared at her, before lowering her head and closing her eyes. "That should be obvious. Let's just hit the hay. We've got another long day at the gym tomorrow. Your mate's gonna need a good lay after we beat Maylene."

"You know, most people don't work this diligently, especially when injured." Maylene said, peering down at Seth. He was lying on his back, lifting weights, with Sky spotting him. "Kinda impressive." She sat down on the bench next to him, wiping the sweat off her brow with the towel around her neck. "Most trainers just let me beat the shit out of them until their pokemon can beat mine. No one really ever puts up a fight." She got up and looked down at Seth with a serious glare. "Just to let you know what you're working for. Don't disappoint me." She threatened.

She delivered a sharp chop to Seth's shoulder before leaving. Seth shelved the weight, and clutched it. "Shitfuck, that hurt." He looked at the gym leader as she walked away. "She was holding back that first time."

"One on one? That it?" Soul asked. "You know how this will end, right?"

"Yeah, I know exactly what I'm getting into. And don't hold back." Seth said.

"Alright~ Don't come crying to me when this is over." She said, lowering her head.

It was later in the day, after the sun had set, and the gym was officially closed. Maylene had allowed Seth to stay and retired to her quarters in the back. Most of the lights in the building were off, but Seth knew where the controls were, so that wasn't a problem. Sky was just next to the ring, which was only about a foot off the ground, looking in.

"Don't go too hard." Sky said.

Soul was off like a bullet, diving towards Seth in a blur and slashing him with her horn as she shot by. It felt like he took a punch to the gut, but it was spread over a line. He grunted but remained standing. Until she kicked him hard in the back of the knee that was. He stumbled forward, grabbing the rope to steady himself. He turned around, catching her horn with his hands before she could charge into him again. The force pushed him back, but the ropes held him in the ring. He leaned forward, wrapping an upper arm around her neck, trying to upend her and get her on her back. He succeeded, pinning her under him. But just as quickly, she spun around, pinning him.

"Ha. Nice try squishy."

"Who's squishy now?" He asked sarcastically, pushing up, moving his hands to her shoulders and lifting. She squirmed and leapt back, out of his grasp.

"So you have gotten tougher. Still just a human though." She opened her mouth and fired an ice beam across the floor, encasing his feet in ice.

"Shit! That's not fair! And that's really cold!" He said, trying to pry himself free.

"Maylene won't hold back. She'll pull out all the stops against you, and so will I." She jumped into the air, swinging both her paws down at him. One left a trail of dark energy, the other psychic. Moves had a similar effect on humans, in that it would not leave real harm if the pokemon did not intend it, but they hit a lot harder, mostly due to the power gap. The force of the two attacks knocked Seth back and onto his ass. He prevented himself from falling all the way over with his palms behind him. He was totally out of breath, and he could barely get back up. But he was not done, and get up he did.

This didn't last long, as Soul charged once again. She head butted him squarely in the chest, but he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her neck, holding on tight. She tossed her head back, lifting him and throwing him up and over her. He lost his grip, flipping through the air and landing on his back. She was on him immediately, pressing her horn into his neck. "There, how about now?" She said.

"Yeah..." He said, sounding strained. "That's it."

"Damn right it is." She taunted. He was too tired to respond.

He drew in a few deep breaths before sitting up. "Alright, let's get out of here." He got to his feet, slid out of the ring, and went for the doors. But when he pushed on them, they didn't budge. "Great. Maylene probably has keys."

"Umm, that may not be a good idea..." Sky muttered, but the others were already off and didn't hear her. Seth lead the way to the rear of the building and knocked on the door, before opening it.

"Just a second." Maylene called out, but it was too late. The door was open and they could see everything. She was naked, and had her hand wrapped around the base of her lucario's dick, which stood tall as he sat down. They both separated, Maylene covering her small breasts and Lucario trying to hide his massive erection.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry!" Seth said, looking away. "Uhh, we're locked in."

"The keys are right there, on the hook." She said, pointing with one hand as her other arm covered herself.

Seth looked over, finding the keys and grabbing them. "I'll... leave them next to the door. Uhh, see you tomorrow." He said awkwardly.

"Seth. Come with me." Maylene said. She walked up to him as he was training.

"Okay?" He said. He followed her back into her room, with her shutting the door before the girls could come in. This left only him, her, and her lucario.

Maylene clinched her fists and looked at him sternly. "I expect your silence."

"What? Oh... that. Yeah, I really don't care what you do."

She breathed a sigh. "Alright. That's good. While not illegal... our type of relationship isn't well liked. I could lose my job if it got out."

Seth drew his fingers across his mouth. "My lips are sealed."

"Good. I'll be around whenever you want to battle." She opened the door for him and allowed him to leave.

"So we're gonna try in the morning?" Soul asked.

"That's what I was planning." Seth said as he relaxed.

"So are you gonna fight with me or Soul?" Sky asked.

"I think I'll go with Soul. You have a type advantage, but having her might throw 'em for a loop. And she's kickass at wrestling."

"You don't even know." She said. "And with all your training, we're golden."

"Would you please promise that you won't do this again? Pushing your body like you have can't be healthy."

"I know, but I have to be strong. The world seems to be against us, and I don't know what's going to happen next. If we're not ready..."

"I'm always ready." Soul bragged. "and with your trump card form-" She covered her mouth. "Opps."

"Form? Is she talking about what you did in Snowpoint? What was it?" Sky asked.

"Hah..." He sighed. "I guess the cats out of the bag. So I discovered that I can... super charge? If I go into more than one form at a time. I call it Chimera form. That's how I beat Regigigas. But it has too many side effects."


	14. Chapter 13: Maylene (X)

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

Chp 13: Maylene

"Alright, get up here." Maylene said the next day. Seth had approached her and hadn't even opened his mouth yet. But he did climb up to join her in the ring, along with Soul.

"Same rules as before?"

"Mm-hmm. And is that the pokemon you're fighting alongside? You know I use fighting types, right?"

"Yep. Let's do this." Seth said, cracking his knuckles. Maylene and her lucario took up positions across from him.

"Begin!" She said, both her and Lucario charging forward simultaneously. "Wait!" She suddenly called. "Almost forgot." She turned, and hopped off the ring, reaching into a bag next to it. She pulled out two pairs of boxing gloves and other protective gear. "Here." She tossed a set to Seth. "I'm not going to pull my punches like I do with everybody else, so..."

"Got it. I won't either." Seth said as he strapped up.

"Okay, now we can go." Maylene said, charging again. She leapt into the air, launching into a flying kick.

Seth ducked to the side just in time, causing her to fly past. Soul meanwhile took the first charge and dove for Lucario.

Lucario swung an arm, smacking her down with a flat palm. Maylene turned and swung her foot through the air at Seth's back, forcing him to dive forward.

Seth rolled and got back to his feet, while Soul rose, keeping her distance from Lucario. Before Lucario could make a move, Soul swung her horn, loosing a psycho cut. It flew through the air, cutting into Lucario, and provided enough distraction that she could leap forward and try to pin him again. She used her claws to establish a firm grip, pinning him under her. But the Lucario let out a wave of aura, forcing Soul off. She pushed off and leapt into the air, landing behind him, on his side of the ring. As her tail came down, she swung a night slash back at Lucario. He rolled out of the way, getting to his knees then feet. Meanwhile, Maylene and Seth were occasionally throwing punches at each other, mostly keeping defensive.

"You made a poor choice." The Lucario said. "I have never lost to a dark type."

"First time for everything." Soul said with a smirk. She charged forward, slashing her horn once again.

"It's useless!" Lucario roared, smacking the streak of darkness away. He was met with a fire breathing absol behind it. He used his other paw to protect his face, but the flamethrower burst around it, engulfing him in fire. Soul tackled him head on, using her horn as leverage to push and throw him up and over her. He spun and landed on his feet behind her. "Combining moves like that? I underestimated you. But you underestimate me as well!" He roared.

He placed both of his hands out, to his sides with palms open. He formed an aura sphere in each, launching them to either side. They arced through the air, curving back towards Soul. She prepped a jump, ready to do it just in time to allow them to impact each other. As she did, she looked to where Lucario was, but he was gone.

"Take this!" She looked up. Lucario was above her, swinging his foot down. Soul shuddered and her body split into two. Lucario swung his foot at the left one, but it was only an illusion. He turned his body and swung his fist at the other one, but it was also fake.

"Hah!" Soul yelled from above him, as her body erupted in lighting, the electricity firing downwards and crashing into Lucario, sending him to the ground covered in sparks. She turned in midair, aiming her head and coming down like a comet, covered in a corona of energy.

Lucario grunted out as he took the full force of her giga impact, left with nowhere to go as he was pushed down into the unrelenting floor. It ended with Soul pinning him down, a paw on each of his limbs. He tried to get up, but he was beat.

"New rule! You have to beat both of us!" Maylene called. Her lucario stopped struggling, knowing that he had lost. But Maylene was nowhere near done. She approached, beginning a flurry of punches, in a similar way to a fighting type pokemon, with no defense. Seth countered, once again, using his pokemon styled moves. Despite not having the ability to perform moves, the instinctual style of using them was still there. All his muscle memory had been built up as a pokemon, so that was his natural fighting style even while human. He expected Maylene to fight like a kick boxer, but she fought like a pokemon, the same as him.

Seth could barely fight back under her onslaught. As he defended, he felt his body begin to prickle. He needed to end this. Now. He intentionally dropped his left arm, presenting an opening to her. She took it, but he took the opportunity too. They both landed a right handed punch on the others cheek. Seth's body twisted, as a white chunk of tooth flew out of his mouth, and everything went black.

"Ughh..." Seth groaned as he came to. His hand went up to his jaw, which hurt like hell.

"Are you feeling alright?" A female voice, an unfamiliar one, asked.

He turned his head to see a nurse, from the pokemon center.

"Ms. Maylene brought you in after a gym fight. She knocked out one of your teeth. We put it back in and you should be fine. You're free to go whenever." She said, leaving the room. "Ah, she left a letter for you. It's right there."

Seth turned, ignoring the jolt than ran through his neck, and picked it up off the side of the bed. He opened the piece of paper, and something fell out. He reached down and picked it up. A badge.

"Hey, sorry about that. I got carried away. I can't just change the rules on the fly like that, so technically, you won."

Seth smiled and climbed out of bed, heading up for his room. He opened the door, and the girls were both there. "Hey."

"Maylene knocked you out cold, and one of your teeth. Got a glass jaw?" Soul said.

"Yeah, I heard." He opened his mouth and pulled his lip back. "Still got the tooth though. I started to transform and I think that punch with that did me in. We got the badge either way. Ready to head out?"

"Welllllllll..." Soul said, dragging it out.

"Alright. We can stay one more night. There is something I wanna do before we leave." He sat down and checked the time. "Anyone wanna come?"

"Actually, yeah." Soul said.

"No, thanks. There's a really interesting show on." Sky said.

"That explains why Soul hates it." Seth said. "Alright. We shouldn't be gone long."

Seth and Soul departed the room, leaving Sky there alone. "So where to?"

"The department store. Biggest one in the region." Seth explained.

"Boring. Why don't we go to the gambling corner?"

"How do you even know about that?" Seth asked, a little suspicious.

"Commercials. We could win money!"

"Or we could lose a ton. That's a lot more likely. Those places are rigged. And I'd rather get a guaranteed return on my cash."

They soon arrived at the department store. Unlike the one in Seth's region, this one was tall instead of wide. Each floor was owned by a different business. As they stepped through the doors, they were plunged into a busy crowd. The mutter of the people was a dull roar, and the place was so packed that Seth could easily get away with talking to Soul.

They went up a few floors, past the medicine and battle items, to the technical machine floor. Seth walked up to the counter and began to look through the discs there.

"TM14?" Seth asked.

"Got it." Soul said.

"TM24 or 25?"

"Got em."

"54?"

"Just give it up. I know all the good moves."

"Fine. Next floor." Seth said, stepping away from the counter and heading for the stairs. The shop they came into now had many toys. As they walked the aisle, Seth stopped and picked up a doll from a bin in the center, one shaped like an absol.

Soul growled a bit and glared at the tiny thing. "Put that down!"

"What? This thing?" Seth asked, pushing the doll closer and shaking it a little.

Soul backed up, baring her teeth. "It's evil!"

"Alright then." He put it down and dug around a bit, before picking up another one. This one was a mega absol. "I'll get this one. And let's see if we can find an espeon one." He leaned back down into the bin, easily finding an eevee form doll.

"That is not what I meant! Those things are just plain creepy! I don't want even one around us!" She ranted while following him. "Just put it back or I swear I will tear that thing to shreds!"

Seth ignored her, purchasing the smiling dolls and putting them into a bag.

"Hey Sky, we're back, and I brought a present." Seth said as they came back into the room. He reached into the bag and pulled out a small espeon doll. He tossed the soft thing through the air, it landing next to her. She was sitting on the bed, not laying, and watching a documentary on the Great Migration.

"And only a year ago, pokemon were unique to regions. For example, poochyena was only found in Hoenn, but now, they can be found anywhere in the world. That's amazing. And we have no idea how it happened." The expert on the TV said.

Sky looked down at the lavender thing for a moment, before squealing and grabbing it. She rolled onto her back, putting it on her chest and rubbing her paws over it. "Thanks! It's so cute!" She cheered.

"Don't come crying to me when that thing comes alive and tries to steal your soul." Soul muttered.

"I got a mini-Soul too." He said, pulling out the mega absol doll. He walked over and set it on the nightstand. He couldn't help but notice Soul still glaring at it. He stripped and climbed into bed. "Finally I don't feel sore. My jaw hurts a bit, but that's nothing." He said while stretching his arms up over his head.

"Soul? Do you mind if I finish this program?" Sky asked. "It's a really interesting thing about the Great Migration, about how and why it might have happened, and-"

"Sure." Soul said, climbing onto the bed herself. "I've got other business." She climbed over Seth, lying on him. She leaned in for a smooch, but he moved his head.

"Not right now. I actually wanna watch this. And it's too early." He said.

"Nerds. Fine go ahead and watch your dumb show." She climbed off, curling up on the bed, but still watching the screen.

"Pokemon have always been a mystery to science. We cannot trace their evolution back as we can ours and normal animals. We simply do not know where and when they came to be. Could it have been something... otherworldly? Aliens have been theorized to exist for a long time. Could pokemon be those aliens?" Another 'expert', with crazy hair, said.

Next up was a show called Legendary Quest, and then another about a bunch of fat and hairy bikers in kanto. These interested Soul much more, and they ended up watching the same channel for a while. During that time, Seth got a pizza delivered, and they all ate dinner. It was soon dark, and Soul's attention turned back to him.

"So~" She purred, climbing onto him again.

"Alright, alright. Sky?" Seth said.

"I'm fine. You two have fun."

"You sure? It's been a while for all of us."

"We can have our own one on one time later. I'd rather not compete with a sex fiend like her." She said jokingly.

"Thanks for the complement." Soul said, lowering her head and laying a sloppy lick up Seth's face.

"Any requests?" Seth asked.

"Lucario. Just like old times." She said, locking lips with him as he began to transform. As he changed, she reached up and batted the mega absol doll on the nightstand to the floor. His changes stopped, leaving him a pure lucario. "Alright. You just sit back and let me take care of everything." She planted her forepaws on his shoulders, and shifted further down. Once everything was lined up, she rubbed her paws down his chest, stopping about halfway down to keep herself steady. Cowgirl wasn't exactly an easy position for quadrupeds. "What exactly changed?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"I remember you used to have a hell of a time transforming. How come it's so easy now?"

"Your head runs a mile a minute doesn't it? I guess it's just experience. I've been doing it for so long that it's second nature."

"But do you still need stuff? First it was sexual contact, then it was emotions, now what?"

"It's still emotion I guess, but all I really need to do is visualize myself as whatever, then it happens."

"Huh. You're weird." She shifted back a bit more. This put her blue cunny right over his sheath, rubbing her damp lips across his tip. "That must be why I love you so much."

"Thanks, I think." He said with a smile, reaching up and putting his paws over hers. "I love you too."

She smiled back down at him, a lusty gaze on her face. Between her legs, his member was quickly growing to full length. She rubbed up and down the shaft a couple times, lubing him up with her juices, before sitting up and taking him inside. "Ohhhh~" She moaned. "It's been too long." She ground her hips around, while her insides clutched and milked his dick.

Seth closed his eyes and laid his head back, a big smile planted on his muzzle. In his head he tried to imagine what was going on down there. His red and veiny canine penis, pointed tip, small bulge at the base that would grow into his knot. Her pussy, mostly hidden in her fur, lips swelled up with arousal. They were the same blue as her skin, and became darker deeper in. He wondered just how deep that blue went. He imagined how they would look right now, with his member spreading her lips to penetrate her most feminine parts. His cock inside her was both cradled intimately and viciously attacked. Her silken walls were indescribably wonderful, the feeling of his lover filling him with pleasure. As she sat down onto him, his member went up and into her, touching her cervix when she bottomed out, almost as if they were designed for each other. She ground her hips around, before repeating the process, at a slow pace. A shiver ran through his body. Sex was just so much better with someone you love.

"Enjoying yourself?" Soul asked, rubbing her paws over his chest and playing around his chest spike. He opened his eyes again.

"Just dreaming of my girl." He said.

"Can the romantics lover boy." She said, playfully smacking his spike. "She's right her and needs your full attention."

He reached down, grabbed her hips, and began to shuffle backwards. He stopped once he was sitting up against the wall, with Soul still in his lap. "There, much better." He said, moving in and burying his muzzle in the puff of fur on her chest. She moved her paws up, resting them on his shoulders for balance. His paws ran up her body, tracing her form, before on came to a rest on her back and the other on her chest. He leaned back as she got back to riding him.

She murred as he rubbed his paws through her fur, passing over her teats hidden deep within. When he heard this, he backtracked, beginning to tease and tweak the nubs. This got an even better reaction. "You best stop that. I can't keep up this slow pace otherwise." He responded by pinching one of her lowest set. "Oh, now you're asking for it." She clenched up on him, squeezing the phallus inside her, before suddenly going all out, pounding onto his lap. "Hah!" She yelped. "Fuck, that's so much better."

She didn't waste any more time, rising and falling again at a feverish pace, making all sorts of sexy noises. Seth's paws fell off of the vocal absol as he sat back. This didn't last long, as they went back up to her hips, helping her up and pulling her back down. His knot, growing by the moment, kept slipping in and out, but it was getting harder to do every time. He couldn't keep from panting any longer, his tongue hanging out of his maw. Hers was already hanging, and she kept sloppily licking her lips and his head. He felt something poking at his balls. Her leather skinned tail was touching around back there, before it turned sideways and hefted his sack up.

"How's about we wrap this up~" Soul said. She began moving even faster, furiously riding him, while grinding all around. Her tail wrapped up, gently squeezing his balls. She lowered her head and locked muzzles with him. She tried to pull up again, but his knot wouldn't allow it. It swelled up greater, filling the entrance to her cunny and preparing to unleash his load. At the same time, his tip slipped past her cervix and into her womb. She groaned into his mouth as she came, her walls waving around him and massaging his embedded member. Her cervix also clenched down, squeezing on his tip.

She felt his start. His body clenched and then relaxed, while his balls drew tight and began to throb. She could swear she felt the seed travelling up his shaft in one big throb, as it began to erupt inside her. His sticky cum blasted up with immense force, hitting the top of her womb and dribbling down. The liquid pooled inside her, radiating warmth through her core. She drew her lips from his, a strand of drool connecting them. She looked at him with half lidded eyes. "It's a good thing I'm not in heat, cause that would have done the job... my mate~" She purred, nuzzling into his neck.

"No more kids, not yet." Seth muttered. He scooted further down, lying his head back and holding Soul onto him, not that she could, or wanted, to get away. "And I'm going to have to take care of my other mate soon..." He said, fading fast. That made Sky smile. By the time she looked up, they were out cold, lying in a pile of sweaty fur.

"I know you're there." Sky said quietly. It was much later that night, and Seth and Soul were asleep, still clutching each other. She raised her head and looked into the dark. Even with her eyes, she couldn't see much. But she could sense the other pokemon. Mewtwo stepped closer, revealing herself. "Don't wake him up." Sky said.

"I could not do so easily. I came to discuss what happened recently, and was going to wait until morning."

"Well you can tell me, and I'll tell him later." Sky offered.

Mewtwo thought for a moment. "Alright. I was far away, but still keeping a bit of attention on him. Until he did... that thing, that transformation. Such a power spike is unprecedented, even greater than mega evolution. And killing a legendary." She clenched her paws. "Your actions could change the world for the worse. I have only been alive for almost thirty years, so I am not well versed in the inner workings of legendaries, but I am an exception. I am only a clone of Mew, and thus do not serve any purpose, but all the others do. Their very existence stabilizes the world, and now there is a gap. Do you even comprehend-"

"Stop." Sky said. "That thing attacked us and we defended ourselves."

"Nevertheless-"

"And I want to ask you something. It said something about us not being welcome? Was Snowpoint Temple important or something?"

"I do not know. My interactions with humans have been... limited. I do not know much history of this region."

"Then would you please leave? I'm tired. And I'll tell Seth in the morning."

Mewtwo glared at the espeon. "Very well." Mewtwo said, vanishing.


	15. Chapter 14: Pastoria

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

Chp 14: Pastoria

Seth awoke first the next morning. Soul was still sprawled out over him, snoring lightly. He gently picked her up and set her aside, his fighting type strength helping. Once she was off him, he carefully got out from under the covers and got up. Once out of the covers, he stopped for a moment to turn human again. He looked down as he felt himself step on something. It was the mega absol doll. As he walked to the bathroom, he stopped to look at Sky in the dull morning light. She was lying on her side and her paws moved around, as if she was trying to walk. He smiled at the dreaming espeon, before heading around the corner into the bathroom.

He stopped to look at himself in the mirror, then got into the shower. A short time later, the door creaked open. He instinctually covered himself and looked out. Sky was there.

"Morning. We need to talk again." She said. "That bi..." She ground her teeth. "Mewtwo showed up again last night. She wanted to chastise you about what happened in Snowpoint."

"Oh, of course she did. She never shows up to say hi or anything."

"I wish she would just go away." Sky said offhandedly.

"You have a problem with her?"

"Of course I do!" She cried. "She's just... a manipulator, you know? She expects us to do so many things, and leads us in whatever direction benefits her most!"

"I can agree with that. If she wasn't so helpful, I'd tell her to take a hike."

"As long as she's not hurting you..." Sky said, slipping back outside.

After he finished cleaning, he came back out. Sky was asleep again, and Soul was still sprawled out, limbs splayed as wide as possible. She had rolled over to occupy his old spot, basically locking him out. Instead he sat down at the desk and pulled out his dex.

From Veilstone, they were headed south, to Lake Valor, and then to Pastoria city. The fourth gym was there, with the water type leader Crasher Wake. From there, they could go back north to Hearthome, and the fifth gym. But then they ran into a problem. They would have to go back across Mt. Coronet to get to the sixth. They could either take the fast way, straight across back to Oreburgh, or the long way, back towards Celestic. On the way, they would pass through Solaceon town, which they hadn't been to yet.

"Lookin' at porn?" Soul asked.

He turned his head to find her getting up and climbing off the bed. "Just the path ahead. Water and ghost are the next two gyms, and we've gotta trek through a swamp."

"You know, I wouldn't mind browsin' around. But uh," She raised a paw, twiddling her claws.

"Yeah, too bad for you. For one, you're not touching my pokedex with those. Second, you two are plenty enough for my fantasies."

"An absol orgy? Twenty of us with just you, all female? That would be pretty hot." She said, imagining it.

"I couldn't handle twenty of you. Feels like you fractured my pelvis after how hard we went last night." He said jokingly.

"You're not hurt again are you?" Sky asked.

"No, I'll make it. Just a bit of an exaggeration. Ready to hit the road? We've got a ways to go to get to Pastoria."

They left town to the south, going through a route bordered by picket fences. They then entered a more civilized area, with lots of houses.

"Is this it? That wasn't too far." Soul said.

Seth couldn't respond plainly as there were several people were around. Instead he cleared his throat, looking at the sign ahead of him that said Hotel Grand Lake. "Let's stop at the restaurant here."

He led the way into a place called the Seven Stars. Right after entering there was a large sign. "Welcome to the Hotel Grand Lake Seven Stars Restaurant. This section is for trainers only. Trainers must accept any challenge, and battles are conducted in the double format with a partner. If you are not a trainer, please go upstairs to dine." The room was large, with plenty of room for casual battles, and the tables were spread out wide.

"Well great." He said. "Looks like we gotta sit with somebody." He scanned the room, but all the tables already had pairs. So he went over and sat at an empty one. A short time later, a girl came in, followed by a floatzel. She came over and joined Seth, sitting on the opposite side of his table.

"Hi, Becky." She offered her hand. Seth shook it and gave his name. She had on a blue name brand short sleeve shirt and matching shorts. She had short black hair and a few freckles. A pair of workers came up, a waiter and a waitress.

"We'd be happy to take your order, after a battle." They said in unison.

"Soul?"

"Actually." Sky said. She stepped forward. "I'd like to blow off some steam." Seth nodded.

"Aqua, your time to shine." Becky said, patting her floatzel on the head.

As their pokemon stepped forward, the waiters sent out a magnemite and a whismur.

Sky stepped forward, and the moment the fight started, she picked up the whismur and smacked it into the steel ball, knocking it out. She then lifted the magnemite, using more effort to force it to move, and began to shake it around, smacking it into the floor over and over. She stopped after a bit, leaving it also defeated.

"Shit Sky." Seth muttered.

"So what can we get you?" The waiter asked nervously.

"Wow, you sure are strong." Becky commented once they ordered.

"Thanks." Seth said.

"So what are you here for?"

"Just passing through on the way to Pastoria. I'm going to challenge Crasher Wake." He explained.

"I see. I'm a plush collector. I live in Pastoria, and I'm heading for Sunyshore. They often have good shipments there. The latest edition, the mega series, just got released and I've gotta pick up as many of them as I can before they sell out and the prices go way up. I'm not one of those scumbag resellers though. I only need one of each."

"Mega? Like this?" Seth said, pulling out mini-Soul.

"Is that... really... a mega absol. That's one of the three I need. Absol, sableye, and gengar. Is there any way I can convince you to give me that?"

"I just met you." He said.

"I understand. Could I maybe..." She trailed off as their food was delivered. "Could I ask you to accompany me to Sunyshore? You seem strong, and there's always tons of strong trainers on the way, and Aqua always gets beat up when they challenge us."

While there was no law requiring trainers to accept every challenger, it was generally seen as both cowardly and unsporting to refuse. "Sure. I could use a little detour." Seth said after a moment.

"Really? Just like that? Alright, thanks a million."

"Soul and Sky, right?" Becky asked.

"Yep. And Aqua's your only pokemon?"

"Yeah. She's more of my travelling buddy than a battle pokemon. We're no match for these professionals."

"Luckily we are. But I thought trainers on the 8th gym would be way stronger." Seth said as they closed in on the city. They had had a couple of battles, but no challenge.

As they entered, there was a big commotion going on. "What's going on?" Becky wondered as they approached. There was a large crowd gathered around a lighthouse. As they got closer, they saw a police barricade.

"PLEASE DISPERSE!" One of the police called out on a megaphone. "THIS IS AN ACTIVE HOSTAGE SITUATION."

"Hostage? That's horrible..." Becky said.

"Maybe we should..." Seth said, but he stopped and looked at Becky, cursing his luck. He couldn't do anything with her here, and especially not with all these people. His instincts told him he needed to try to help, but maybe it was for the best... keeping him and the girls out of danger versus the people inside...

Most of the crowd was backing up and scattering, but Seth remained there, still debating. Suddenly, the wall of the top floor burst open, a large tyranitar flying out and landing on the ground. It's body was charred and smoking, and crackles of electricity still sparked around it. A gold and black furred luxray leaped out, landing gracefully on top of the unconscious tyranitar.

"Shit!" Someone screamed as he ran out of the building. He had a rifle in his hands, and he was followed by two others, and a hydreigon. One more person came out, accompanied with an alolan raichu. He was a bit hunched over, with his hands in his pockets. He had spiky blonde hair, and a blue jacket and jeans.

"Hold fire! He's got this." One of the officers called out.

The luxray roared, a wave of electricity passing along the ground. It remained there, blocking the path of the fleeing criminals.

"Dammit!" One of them cried. He turned and fired at the man, but the raichu leapt up, and the bullet shattered in midair just before hitting them. One of the other men shot at the luxray, but it let out three bolts of electricity. The bolts shot forward in a path, disintegrating the bullets, and going into the guns, shooting out the back and rendering them useless. Another wave of bolts hit the men in the chest, knocking them all to the ground. The hydreigon roared, firing a dragon pulse from all three of its heads, but the raichu flew forward on its tail, blocking them point blank with a protect. It flew closer, touching the dragon on the chest. It exploded in a massive bolt of lightning, falling to the ground in a similar state to the tyranitar.

The blue clad man walked forward, up to the police. "I made sure not to kill them. I'm fine, and so is everybody else." He said, walking right past the barricade. He put his hand to his mouth and whistled, his pokemon rushing to his side. He sighed as he walked off.

"Damn. That was cool." Soul said.

"Who was that?" Seth asked.

"You don't know?" Becky asked. "That was Volkner, the eighth gym leader. They say he's one of the strongest trainers in Sinnoh. Like, stronger than the elite four even."

"So that's the power difference? We are going to have to get better."

"Yeah, seeing that must make you worry. I'm kinda thankful I'm not a battler. Anyways, let's head over to the market." She turned and led the way across town to a building surrounded by tents and stands. It looked like a flea market. She looked around, until she found a stall with plushies. As she looked through that, Seth split off, looking around for anything interesting. When he didn't see anything, he looked back to her. When he did, he found her floatzel staring at him. He couldn't place that look, but it made his skin crawl. Suspicion maybe?

"No luck." Becky said, stepping away from the table.

"Alright, so? Now what?"

"I guess we can tag along to Pastoria. It's not that far away, and that's where I live."

"Fine by me." Seth said with a shrug. "Was it really worth coming all the way out here? Like what, a two hour walk from Pastoria?"

"Of course." She said. "I will get every pokemon plush. It's my dream." She had a fire burning in her eyes.

"I see..." Seth said.

They walked for a while, mostly in silence, until Seth spoke up again.

"Know anything about Crasher Wake?"

"Yeah. He's kind of a local hero. He dresses up in an outfit and everything. He specializes in water types. He uses a ton of different pokemon, but his best is a floatzel, like Aqua here. But don't count on water types exclusively, he mixes types a lot. Like lanturn, part electric."

"Alright." Seth began to brainstorm, trying to think if there were any part water types that were effective against Soul or Sky. He could think of a few, but there were so many water types...

They eventually made it back to the resort, heading south from that onto a beach. But there was something strange. Tons of pink spikes stuck out of the sand.

"The hell?" Seth asked.

"Oh that? It's just the pyukumuku. They started washing up on the beaches ever since the great migration. Watch." She stepped closer and poked a spike. It jiggled, and a black blob like pokemon emerged from the sand. It looked angrily at her.

"Fuck off." It growled in a high pitch voice. It squirmed around again to bury itself.

They walked across the beach for a while, until the path led back up into Pastoria. As they got nearer, the humidity picked way up, making it seem way hotter.

"Well, we're gonna head for the pokemon center. It's too late to challenge the gym."

"Me and Aqua need to talk to him, so if you wanna tag along to meet him..." She offered.

"Okay." Seth shrugged. She led the way there, and guided him inside. She walked right in, without the receptionist saying a word. She went into a side door, leading into a long hallway. She opened one of the doors, into what looked like a dressing room. There was a bald man with sideburns inside, putting on a blue wrestling mask.

He turned around. "Becky!" He called out, spreading his arms as he came close and pulled her into a hug. "Make a friend?" He asked.

"Yeah. Seth, this is my dad, Crasher Wake. Dad, this is your next challenger."

"A trainer eh?" He offered his hand which Seth shook. It was a firm handshake, between two strong men, though he certainly looked a lot more buff than Seth. "HAH!" He bellowed. "Now that's a handshake. I look forward to a good battle." He said with a hearty laugh.

"Likewise." Seth said with a nod.

"Well, I just wanted to say hi now that I got home." Becky explained.

"Anything good?" He asked.

"Nothin', at least not yet."

"Ay, that's a shame."

Becky and Seth left, about to go their separate ways outside the gym.

"Are there any special rules at the gym?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, you have to battle in the pool. It's about ten feet deep."

"Hmm... I may be willing to give you my absol doll. If you convince your dad to let me battle without being there. Just my pokemon versus him."

"Oh, that shouldn't be hard. He loves interesting fights. But why on earth would you do that?"

"Call it a challenge. If my pokemon can beat him alone, that'll show just how strong we are."

"You gonna battle with us for once?" Soul said.

"Sure, I'll talk to him about it." Becky said.

"I'd appreciate it, probably enough to hand over a certain plush." Seth said. He began walked toward the pokemon center. On the way he turned back. Becky had gone the other way, but her floatzel was looking back at him as they walked. Once again, she looked suspicious of him. As if she expected him to commit a crime or something.

"She seems nice." Sky said.

"Yeah. Maybe a little obsessed, but nice." Seth said. "And if she can convince her dad, then I can fight with you."

"For once you get off your ass?" Soul joked.

"Hey, leading is just as hard. It's pretty stressful."

"You just keep telling yourself that."

"I'm just glad to be away from her floatzel. That thing was creeping me out."

"You didn't notice?" Soul asked.

"She-" Sky started.

"Sch!" Soul hissed. "It's a secret."

"Care to clue me in?" He asked.

"Nope." Soul said cheerily, turning back to the TV.


	16. Chapter 15: Marsh (X)

Chp 15: Marsh

Seth opened the door after he heard a knock. Becky was there.

"Hey. So I talked to Crasher Wake, and he said he'd need some time. He said he can't just change the rules out of the blue and still give you a badge without consulting the league."

"I see." Seth muttered.

"So I was thinking me and you could go out to the Great Marsh to pass the time." She suggested with a bright smile.

"Great Marsh?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's a pokemon safari, and I know all the best spots."

"Okay then." He motioned for the girls to come.

"Actually, you can't bring pokemon. I was gonna leave Aqua here with your pokemon cause she get's lonely."

"Oh... Well I have always wanted to go to a safari... Alright. Girls, play nice. I'll be back later." He moved aside to allow Aqua to enter. As she did, she ran a paw along his chest, deliberately from what Seth could tell. "Lead the way." He said, closing the door as he left.

"So how long have you been in heat?" Soul asked.

"Is it really that obvious?" She whined. "Almost a week now. And why does your trainer smell like a male pokemon?!" She demanded, nearly hysterical.

"Cause he is. Pounce him and you'll see."

"Would that really be alright?" She asked, both hopeful and desperate.

"Sure. If you leave now, you can probably catch them."

"I... Thank you." The floatzel said, hurrying out the door.

"You sure that's alright with Seth?" Sky asked.

"Yeah, he's fine. Besides, she needs it. A week in heat must be torture."

"Entry for two." Becky said. Seth reached for his card, but she stopped him. "I got this. You're the guest after all." She paid, and they were each handed a satchel with thirty special balls inside. "Alright, follow me."

"I'm not really into the catchin' business. Maybe if we find a strong pokemon." Seth explained

"Well neither am I. It's just fun to come out here and see pokemon." She said, leading him out of the entry way, and onto a tram platform. "Get you some boots. We'll need 'em." She said, leaning down to take a pair. There was a large box of knee high boots, with a sign saying to please return them.

He did so, grabbing a pair of dirt encrusted boots and stowing his shoes in his pack. He strapped them on, and stood back up.

"Great. Follow me." She said, jumping off the side of the platform and into the swamp. There was a soaked squelch as her boots hit the muddy ground. Seth followed, grimacing as he stepped into the swamp. Every step forward was accompanied by noises and squishing.

"AHH!" He heard somebody yelp behind him. He turned to looked, and saw a flash of orange, but the person was already obscured by trees. But based on where they were, they didn't come off the platform. They were already in the trees and grass.

"Shh..." Becky whispered, getting his attention and pointing forward. There was a quagsire, with a dumb smile on its face, lying in the mud and playfully rolling around. It was clearly having tons of fun. They continued on, until they reached a border of trees. "Come on, this way." She said. She stepped onto one of the tree's exposed roots, climbing up and over.

"Isn't it usually a bad idea to go off route?"

"Yeah, but all the cool pokemon hide off the beaten path. We'll be fine. Pokemon are mostly friendly, and we have a ton of balls to scare any mean ones away."

"I guess..." He knew he would be able to keep her safe if things went south, but he didn't want to reveal his secret. Even among friends, the less people who knew, the better.

They walked a bit, until a sound could be heard. Almost like a slapping or smacking. They eventually found their way to the side of an area with deeper water. Close by, also on the shore, were two pokemon, a croagunk and a toxicroak. The older one, standing off to the side, was teaching the younger one how to fight, using a tree as a punching bag.

"Yes, right hook, use your poison! That's it!" The toxicroak, presumably the father, cheered his son on.

"Pokemon are amazing..." Becky muttered quietly. She suddenly got moving again, forcing Seth to follow or get left behind.

She led the way through more thick trees and tall grass, until she held up a hand. He leaned to the side to look ahead. There were two loud growls and a crash. Up ahead, still in the muddy swamp, there were two drapion clashing. The area around them was trampled, grass being crushed and trees being toppled. It looked like a bomb went off around the battling pokemon.

"Wow..." Becky said. She took another step forward, trying for a closer look, but she stepped on a branch. The crack came at a bad time, when there was a stalemate between the drapion. They both glared in the humans' direction. "Uhh..." Becky said. "We'll just be leaving now." She started to back up. Both the beastly pokemon roared, charging at them with deadly force. Becky reached into her satchel, tossing a ball in the drapion's direction. It was deflected, and did nothing. "Run like hell!" She shouted.

Seth also turned, and bolted, lagging slightly behind her intentionally. But then he tripped over a stump, going face first into the mud. The sound of stomping crashed over him, but nothing attacked him. He lifted his head up, wiping the mud away from his eyes. Up ahead, the two drapion were still chasing Becky, who was tossing balls behind her in an attempt to ward them off. He was soon left in the dust, in the middle of nowhere.

"Great..." He muttered. He had a general idea of where they came from, but everything in the swamp looked the same. He got back up and sat down on a dry root, scraping as much mud off of himself as he could.

"H-h-hey..." A voice, female, whimpered from nearby.

Seth looked up. There was an orange and tan otter pokemon, a floatzel, trudging through the mud towards him. "Aqua?" He asked when he thought she looked familiar. "Becky's pokemon?"

"Yeah..." She said nervously, twiddling her paws.

"Did you follow us?" She nodded. "Don't worry about your trainer. She was hauling ass. So do you think you can guide me back? You'd know this place better than me."

"Oh, uh..." She twiddled her paws more furiously and blushing. "Okay."

She was acting very different to how she did when they first met, but Seth thought it best to ignore. She was obviously shy, and confronting her might impair her ability to see him to civilization. "So uh, you never said anything when I was around before."

"Oh, I usually don't talk. My trainer can't understand me, so there isn't really much point." She explained.

"And who was it that told you I could? Soul? The absol?" He clarified.

"Yeah, she explained everything."

"Of course she did." Seth said, mentally sighing. "So why come out here? Worried about your trainer?"

"I uh, yeah, um, she doesn't leave me alone very often."

"I understand. I'm surprised Sky didn't come with. She worries a bit too much." Seth said. He noticed the ground getting dryer, and the foliage lightening up. She eventually led him to a stream, with clean water. "Hold on." He said. "I'm gonna get cleaned up before we get back." He kneeled down, undoing his boots and slipping off most of his clothes, down to his underwear.

She sat down nearby, dipping her hind paws into the water and leaning down to scrape the mud off. The river came from the marsh, but a large dam blocked the flow and filtered the grime. The resulting stream was mostly clear. He first dunked his clothes in, scraping the mud off until only several dirt stains remained. Then he himself got in, scrubbing his arms and face clean. The stream wasn't very deep, requiring him to sit down to get close enough to the water to clean easily. It was about knee height standing up.

"Seth's pokemon! Please open the door!" Becky begged, slamming her fist against the door to their pokemon center room. "Uhh, Soul! Sky!" She remembered.

"Ugghh... What does she want?" Soul groaned.

"I have no idea. She sounds panicked. It could be bad..." Sky said. She stood and began to go for the door.

"Do we really have to deal with it? He was with her and he can handle himself, and what ever she did, just fine."

But it was too late. Sky turned the latch with her powers and opened the door. Becky burst in, nearly hitting Sky with the door. "You have to come quick! Seth and I startled a bunch of angry pokemon and then they chased me and we got seperated. They could be attacking him right now! We have to go rescue him!"

"See? False alarm." Soul said, rolling onto her side and looking back to the TV.

"And where's Aqua? Oh no, she must have come looking for me! C'mon!" She urged, trying to rouse Soul. Sky was already beside her, trying in vain to calm her down somehow. Soul lazily waved her away. "Don't you care about your trainer?! He could be hurt!"

"I seriously doubt it. I'd wager he's probably gettin' lucky right about now." Soul said with a snicker.

"She's not going to leave till we help her." Sky said. "If we don't, she might just get into more trouble."

"You do have a point... Fine." Soul huffed and got up.

"Alright! Now let's go!" Becky ordered, charging out of the room. The two pokemon followed, with much less gusto.

Suddenly, Seth was tackled, falling forward, face first, into the water. There was a weight on his back, holding him down, until he started to struggle, pushing up with his arms. The thing on his back did not move, but didn't weigh enough to keep him down. He made it above the water, coughing from the sudden immersion.

"-but if I don't then I'll go crazy, I've been like this for too long and it's driving me mad, and I might just end up going after the first male I see, which I guess I really did, but still, I have to, I don't have a choice anymore-" Aqua rambled from above him.

He rolled over, toppling the otter from his back and into the water. She made a small splash and stopped talking. By the time he turned to look at her, his body was already covered in blue fur, and he was steadily shrinking into his lucario form. His nose had already changed, and he could smell her very clearly. "Oh, I understand."

She let out a small squeak as he turned to her.

"I really should have caught on sooner..." He stood, now on lucario legs, and offered a paw to help her up.

"Uhh... thanks." She said, nearly whispering. "Are you going to..."

"If that's what you want." Seth said. "Most males, feral ones at least, would just pounce a fem in heat, but I'm better than that." He could see her shuddering, and not from the water. "Relax." He reached out and rubbed the top of her head. "I won't do anything you don't want me to."

"I've, uhm, had a male before, at the day care... but never in heat..."

"And I would guess you know what will happen if we do this."

"Yes, but... I can't stand this anymore!" She suddenly yelled. "Becky doesn't even realize, and I'm burning up inside!"

"Alright, alright." Seth said, trying to calm her down. "Are you sure about this? I won't be around to raise the pup."

"Becky is a good trainer. She'll raise it." She seemed a lot better now, but she started biting her lip. "Can... can I make a... request?"

"Shoot." Seth said.

She bit her lip harder, and looked away, pulling her tails up to cover her blush. "Fuck me." She whispered. "I want to be taken by a feral male, like you mentioned earlier. I need to be bred savagely! Just rut me raw! Mount me like I'm your bitch and pound my pussy! Fucking-"

"Okay, geez. Soul would be proud..." He muttered, standing up. She immediately fell forward, assuming the position with a splash. One of her paws went back and began to furiously rub at her slit. "You've got it bad." He said, climbing over her, his paws resting in the water. His red member had already come halfway out, and he began to thrust at her rear. His tip poked around a few times, before he found his mark. Her tails began to shake on his side, the fluffy appendages rubbing under him, pinned as they were. He started to slowly slide into her cunny, but he remembered her request. He thrust hard, slamming into her.

She cried out, squirming under him, seemingly in pain.

"Aw, shit. Sorry." Seth said. "Did I go too fast? I know you're sensitive right now."

"What?! No! Keep going like that!" She begged.

"Ugh..." He complained. "Oran, that's your safe word." He said, before leaning forward and beginning to really pound her. Or at least he thought so. While he was a full on lucario, he still had the brain, at least the consciousness, of a human. There was some pokemon instinct there, that was how he was able to use moves, but he didn't think it was as strong as a natural pokemon. No matter what she wanted, he couldn't just ignore her to sate his own desires, even if that's what she really wanted. Even though her heat burned into his senses, demanded that he go wild on her pussy, he just couldn't bring himself to risk injuring her in the name of pleasure. Nevertheless, he went as hard and fast as he could without hurting her.

She was tight and wet, though Seth couldn't tell if it was her water type or the stream they were in. Seth could feel her engorged vulva rubbing against his sheath. Their anatomies weren't exactly designed to match, but mating itself wasn't so complicated.

"Uhn, uhn, mmm~" She kept grunting and purring every time his tip hit against her cervix. By the movements of her body, the shudders and grinds, she was holding herself back. He leaned down, nuzzling into her neck, right above her floatation sack. She groaned much louder, and he got a whiff of her full, heat laden, scent. His loins gave a reactionary throb, leaving smears of pre in her. He went a bit further back and began to lick her yellow sack, occasionally nibbling on it carefully.

This really set her off. She became much more vocal, moaning and squealing loudly and consistently. She nearly turned to putty under him, forcing him to clutch her and keep her up to remain in a comfortable position.

"B-b..." She kept trying to speak, but her voice failed her over and over, seemingly in time with his thrusts. He raised his head, stopping the licks on her neck. "Breed me..." She begged, barely sounding conscious.

Seth didn't even think he was really doing that much. Just the usual in and out. Not to say it wasn't pleasurable, but he certainly wasn't giving her any special treatment. But from her reaction, he was giving her mind blowing sex. That air filled organ around her body must be really sensitive. Even for being in heat, she was really into it.

"Seed me... please... I can't stand this anymore! I need relief!" She cried, losing it again. She was like a rollercoaster. Shy one moment and loud the next. He couldn't tell which part was her personality and which was the heat. Probably a mix of both.

Either way, he was close too. She had already had several orgasms, though other than the squeezing pulsations, there was little evidence. The water around them did a good job of making everything wet. His knot was large, swollen and throbbing, and banging at her lips with every thrust. There was a problem however. Despite all the lubrication, her body was not meant to take a knot. No matter how Seth tried to get it in, it was not budging. She was just too small, at least in that area. In the rush of an oncoming climax, he forgot about not hurting her, and did his all to force the lump of breeding flesh into her.

He failed however, as a pulse ran through his member and a shiver through his body. With the growth of his knot, and it not being in its rightful place, he had lost a little bit of length inside her, and his tip was not against her cervix. But there was no doubt she would get pregnant when his climax started, with the amount of liquid riolu flowing into her. With no knot, he was able to pull out easily, a sloppy wave of leftovers dribbling out of her. He was mostly done, but a small line of cum continued to flow out of his tip. He let go of her, and to his surprise, she dropped into the water, completely limp.

Seth didn't know if she could breathe under water, and didn't want to chance it. He grabbed her and pulled her back up, her belly fur rubbing along his still sensitive member. He carried her in both arms back over to the shore and set her down. And now he was stuck here, with an unconscious weasel, lost in the woods.

Aqua's eyes fluttered as she woke up. It was later in the day, close to sunset. She reached down, a paw going to her cunny, coming away wet. She ached a bit, but the raw burning need of heat was gone. She raised her head and looked around, eyes falling onto a paw full of berries.

"How are you feeling?" Seth asked. He was sitting a bit further away.

"Better..." She said.

"Good. Eat up and let's go home."

"Did we really..."

"Yes. Now I'd like to be going back to town. I'm sure the girls, and your trainer, are wondering what's going on."

After a not so long walk, they burst through the tree line and emerged into town. Seth took the lead now, heading for the pokemon center. Even if the girls weren't there, he could still change out of his wet mud stained clothes. Then they could go look for-

"AQUA, SETH!" Becky yelled. "You're both alright. Oh thank goodness, I was so worried." She rushed over, the girls with her. "We looked everywhere."

"Smells like you did your job." Soul commented with a grin.


	17. Chapter 16: Tidal

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

Chp 16: Tidal

Seth cracked his knuckles. He was currently sat in a private room in the Pastoria gym. They had already been waiting for a while now. The door cracked open and an attendant stuck his head in. "Alright. It's time. But wasn't it a three on three? Where's your other pokemon?"

"Don't worry." Seth said. "We'll be out in just a second, just leave the door cracked."

He nodded and left. Seth looked into the hall, and then ducked back inside, shrinking down into a vaporeon.

'Wouldn't jolteon be better?" Sky asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Yeah, but I'd rather use this one. You'll see. I've got a plan." The three of them left the dressing room, and went around to the side entrance to the arena. They emerged into a darkened room, with a ton of spotlights shining on the center. In said center was a pool, with foam platforms floating in it. Crasher Wake stood on the other side.

He had a microphone in his hand. "Here we have a new challenger, Seth! But you may ask, Mr. Wake, where is he? Well you see, this trainer thinks he's so good that he can beat me without even showing up!" The crowd booed. "Come on now, don't be like that. I'm sure he's got a good reason. But that doesn't mean I will hold back. A tidal wave is about to hit!" He called out, putting on a show. He tossed out his first pokemon, a poliwrath. It grunted and flexed a few times on one of the foam platforms. The crowd was roaring in excitement.

"Alright," Seth said. "Sky, you take him. Soul, you take his floatzel, and I'll pick up whatever's left."

Sky gracefully leapt forward, landing on the closest platform. "Espy!" She cried loudly. Poliwrath jumped in and dove under the water. The sides of the pool were blue, making the water hide the pokemon perfectly. Still, Sky followed it easily, and leaped into the air just in time as it punched up, flipping the platform Sky had been on. The foam spun in the water, before growing still again. She landed on a different one, but it was also flipped. This time, she just dove into the water. A purple light could be seen under the water, and soon a second one appeared. The new one flew up to the surface, exploding in a torrent of water. Poliwrath flew several feet into the air, before plummeting back down with a smaller splash. Sky meanwhile climbed out of the water and back onto a platform, her bubble of psychic energy dissipating. She was barely wet.

Soul shied back from the edge to avoid the droplets flying through the air, while Seth got closer. The lights were drying out his skin and the water felt nice.

But poliwrath wasn't done yet. He suddenly burst from the water, flipping Sky's platform again, and this time when she dodged, he turned and dove in midair back down at her. He connected mid jump, slamming her down into the water, before she could erect a barrier. There was another huge splash, and then nothing. Poliwrath came to the surface, holding Sky over his shoulder. He swam over to the challenger side, and gently placed her on the ground.

"Sorry." She said weakly.

Seth put a paw on hers. "It's fine. You did good. And this guy's no joke." He stepped forward and dove into the water.

"And one down!" Crasher Wake called. "And now a water type? Against the best water type trainer in Sinnoh?!"

Seth chuckled under the water. Now that he was in, he could use his vaporeon abilities to turn into mostly water. It was a strange feeling, being so spread out, but he had more important things to do. This would require absolute focus, and the camouflage was just to hide it. Poliwrath was in the water too, swimming around swinging at every strange patch of water in an attempt to find him. For a split second, Seth reverted to human, his body starting to reform. But before anything else could happen, he changed again, this time to a jolteon. His still mostly water body pulsed as he unleashed a massive burst of electricity into the water, and then he changed human, and then vaporeon again. He could still feel the tingling of the energy, but nowhere near as much as Poliwrath got. He went limp, about halfway in the water. Seth returned to solid, swam over, and used his head to push the pokemon to the surface and up to Crasher Wake.

"What is this!? Poliwrath?! What have they done to you!?" He cried, falling to his knees. "I will avenge you!" He yelled, playing it up for the audience. He took his next ball, releasing a swampert.

That worked better than Seth could have guessed. No one had seen it. He wasn't sure it would even work in the first place. Swampert let out a croaking noise, slapping its huge paws onto the platform. Seth dove back under, hiding in the water again. Becoming water, well mostly water, was weird. It felt so natural to control, but the concept and feeling of it was so alien. He still retained all the feeling of his body, but he was spread out much greater. While no normal eye could tell the difference between his cells and the water, there was still something separating him from fully merging with the water.

Swampert interrupted Seth's train of thought when it clapped its hands together. The water began shaking, rapidly growing violent. Seth was thrashed around, until the water suddenly rushed towards the center, turning into a spout, which began to spin into the air. Suddenly, all the water plummeted, and Seth reformed in the air. Swampert leapt up, swinging one of its broad arms at Seth, who was still surprised at being forced out into the open. Seth was struck in the side by the hammer arm, and they both crashed back into the water. Seth got slammed into the base of the pool, still with surprising force. Now he was left with a problem. His previous trick wouldn't work. A leafeon would be perfect, but grass type moves were a lot slower, and could leave signs, and could also be seen better.

Before he could come up with a strategy, Swampert switched arms and used another hammer arm. Seth tried to turn into water again, but Swampert raised its arms, clasped its hands together, and smashed into Seth, sending him spiraling away. Seth righted himself, still with no solid plan. He was certainly feeling the powerful blows catching up to him. No longer content to sit back and think, he opened his mouth, sucking in a large amount of water, and unleashed a large hydro pump. It shot through the water, impacting Swampert head on. But nothing really happened besides that. Quite the opposite of the intended effect, Swampert began to sluggishly swim forward. It swung its arm again, but this time Seth swam out of the way, dodging the follow up swing as well. He had expected his mobility to have dropped in the water, but he felt even more lithe underwater now. Just another perk of being a water type.

Now he was up against the side of the pool, with nowhere to back up. Swampert took advantage of this, lunging forward in a body slam. Seth reacted fast. He used his own tail to launch forward, matching Swampert blow for blow as their heads hit.

Seth remained conscious, but he was done. His body could barely move. He considered pressing on, but his promise to Sky rang in his ears. So he remained limp and floated to the surface. Once there, he crawled up and out, lying next to Sky.

"Thanks." He heard her whisper.

"Two down!" Crasher Wake roared. "Good job!"

"Ughh..." Soul groaned. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to fight... I swear if I get wet..." She complained.

"You don't have to fight. But if you don't then we lose, so..." Seth said.

"Yeah, I know." She sighed and jumped forward onto a platform. "Get up here you bastard." She growled down into the water.

Swampert was not going to make it that easy for her. It stayed under water, swimming around and sizing her up, though it was moving a lot slower now.

"Well fuck you too!" Soul shouted. She swung her paw down, a slash cutting the water in half, and striking Swampert. The water quickly filled in, and Swampert floated up to the surface.

"That was a powerful move! But will this absol be strong enough to beat my best?! Tidal! It's your turn!" The crowd roared as Crasher Wake sent out his floatzel, a male. He put on a show, inflating its floatation sack and flexing.

Soul didn't want to wait however, and she launched her assault. She leapt into the air, swinging her claws down at Tidal as she fell. The floatzel jumped back, falling into the water. Soul's attack did not deal any damage to the foam, though her claws pressing into it did. Soul began to swing her claws and horn wildly into the water, slashing streaks downwards into the water. Under the surface, Tidal darted around like a torpedo, dodging every one of Soul's moves.

"Hit his sack!" Seth called out. "That's a floatzel's weak point!"

"Isn't that all males' weak point?" Soul asked back. The brief moment of distraction made her lose sight of Tidal.

"Not that one, the one around his body!"

Tidal shot forward, bursting out of the water, and shot water right at her. She was hit from behind with the spray. It wasn't a powerful move, but it did soak her fur. She let out an angry growl and he splashed back down into the water.

"Mother fucker..." She jumped high up, and began swinging all four paws below her. This sent a wave of small slashes downward. Tidal once again swam around every single one, escaping damage free. This made Soul even angrier. "Dodge this!" A wind began to swirl around her. Tidal remained under water, ready to dodge her next move before launching an attack. A wave of wind built up, carving down into the water. The blast of razor wind created a large wave, splashing up onto Crasher Wake. The water was obscured for a brief moment, and Crasher Wake stood proudly as the wave crashed around him, striking a pose, much to the crowds pleasure.

Soul looked around in a panic. She had lost sight of Tidal. Suddenly, the platform she was on was launched into the air, causing her to fall off and into the water. She splashed around for a moment before a bright light covered her. It burst outwards and she flew up into the air. Her body was now that of a mega absol, with an expanded horn and wings of fur. While they were not true wings, they amplified her jumping and slowed her descents, giving her the appearance of flight.

She glided in the air for a moment. "A mega evolution?! WITH NO TRAINER!?" Crasher Wake roared, causing the microphone to screech.

"Oh boy, she is pissed." Sky said.

"Oh, you're up. Feeling alright?" Seth asked. She nodded.

Soul reared back and swung her horn down, a huge crescent of dark energy shooting down and cutting the water in two. Two waves splashed out on either side, the water level dropping even more.

Tidal blasted out of the water, shooting at Soul while firing a hydro pump. Soul flapped her wings, spraying water everywhere, and causing a sparkling effect from the spotlights. He crashed into her, but this was all part of her plan. She clutched the male, her wings coming around and wrapping him tight in her embrace. They fell a few feet down, onto one of the platforms. Her fur stood on end as she began to unleash thunderbolt attacks over and over.

Tidal could do nothing. She had him fully pinned, and he couldn't even draw in enough breath for a water gun. The constant super effective attacks were too much, and his struggles ceased as he passed out.

"AHHAAHAA!" Crasher Wake bellowed in laughter. "That was a wonderful fight. Excuse me for a moment folks. I've got to go talk to a skilled trainer behind the scenes. Maybe I can get him out here."

"Oh shit..." Seth muttered. "Soul, you take care of Sky!" Seth yelled as he bolted for the dressing room. Soul released the floatzel and hopped back onto solid ground while reverting. Crasher Wake recalled his pokemon, and began to head for the dressing rooms as well.

Seth made it back first and turned human again, sitting down but still breathing heavily. His skin was still wet, and it began to soak into his clothes.

"Aye, you were right on. Some fine pokemon you've got." Crasher Wake said as he came in. "You've certainly earned this." He took a badge out of seemingly nowhere and gave it to Seth. "Looks like you had a battle of your own in here."

"Yeah, it's kinda hot."

"The flames of battle can do that. I would love to see what you can do fighting alongside your pokemon. That absol really gave me a thrashing."

"Yeah, Soul can be quite a handful."

"So how can you two mega evolve like that?" Sky asked later that day, after they had returned to their room. "I thought it required stones and more than one person."

"I dunno." Soul said matter of factly.

"Well, she ate an absolite, and my father was a mega lucario when I was, uhh, made. So it's in my DNA, and I guess Soul absorbed enough of its power. As for the second part..." He rubbed his chin. "I have no idea. Maybe it's because of our connection with each other. Or with it being a part of our bodies instead of a stone around our neck, maybe that makes it easier."

"But like how do you actually do it?"

"It's like my transformations. Just a buildup of emotion and using the evolution as an outlet. It's really tiring though. Why all the questions?"

"I just... You were talking about getting stronger, and Soul is already tough. I just feel like I'm the weak one." Sky said sadly.

"You don't have to be tough." Seth said. "You're the best at cuddling. That's all you need." He offered, motioning for her to come closer. She did, and they embraced. "I'm takin' a nap." He declared.

"Kay. I'm still running on an adrenaline high." Soul said, turning the volume on the TV down.

Seth's eyes opened when he felt something poke his side. At first, through the blurry fog, all he saw was a hint of blue surrounded by white. He blinked a few times before realizing what it was.

Soul was lying on her back across from him, with her rear paws in the air, and forepaws on her belly. One was reaching down, using two claw tips to spread the organ there. Her cunny was an all too familiar sight to Seth, but he still found it attractive. Her face had a look that could only be described as perverted. He reached out, rubbing her clit with a thumb. "Good morning to you too." He said.

She purred a bit, before rolling over and getting up. "Thought I would give you a bit of a treat." She said while swishing her tail about.

"You deserve the treat. You really pulled through yesterday."

"I know. So how about instead of the usual, we get moving. I've got big plans in the making. The deal is, you have to go along with it."

"Alright?" He said, not too sure he liked where this was going. He wasn't truly scared, but she certainly could be mischievous when she wanted to. "And you..." He said, looking down. Sky was lying across his legs. She was already awake. "Come 'ere you little cuddleon." He said, reaching down and sweeping her up in his arms. She let out a yelp followed by a little chuckle, but Soul gave him a dirty look.

"That was the worst thing that has ever come out of your mouth." She said.

"Yeah, that was pretty bad." Sky said.

He got up, and noticed a piece of paper under the door.

"Hey Seth, guess you were still asleep. Come by the gym when you wake up. Signed, Becky."

"Get ready to go. We've gotta go see Becky, then we're moving on." Seth explained.

"Seth!" She called when they arrived at the gym. She showed them back and into one of the dressing rooms. "You won't believe it." She unstrung and unzipped her backpack, revealing the egg inside. "Aqua laid this last night!"

"Oh, congratulations." Seth said. "Well," He quickly changed the subject. "You pulled through, so." He took the mega absol doll out and gave it to her. "We're moving on to Hearthome. It was nice to meet you." He said, beginning to turn around.

"Likewise. Stop on by any time. Or maybe we'll meet each other again on the road."


	18. Chapter 17: Hearthome

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

Chp 17: Hearthome

"So any more details on this mysterious plan of yours?" Seth asked.

"Nope. You'll see when we get there. Trust me, it'll be fun." She said, not even breaking pace.

"I don't like the sound of that." He muttered. "Any guesses?" He asked Sky.

"Not a one. Probably something sexual."

"Wrong!" Soul called cheerfully.

"Maybe a battle?" Seth pondered.

"Warmer." Soul teased, a bit of a prance in her step.

"It's weird seeing you act so giddy." Seth commented. "Especially on a day like this." It was hot and humid. The air felt sticky, irritating just to be in. That also might be due to their location, as they had been going through the marsh, and were just about out of it.

As they walked, a large mansion rose on the horizon. As they got closer, a loud commotion could be heard. Seth got curious and looked through the wide open main gate. It seemed like a festival or something, centered around eevee and eeveelutions. In fact, there were tons of eevee pups running around. A sign out front proclaimed that there were eevee up for adoption.

"Aww, look at how cute they are." Sky said in a cutesy voice.

"No pups." Seth said. "Yet." He corrected.

"I know, not while we're travelling and battling." Sky said.

"Oh well, let's keep moving." Soul said, beginning to walk away.

"I didn't say we couldn't check it out." Seth said. He started in, forcing Soul to backtrack. Sky immediately broke off, going over to the pups to play. Seth went over to the main area, picking up a flyer there. It had details on the unique abilities of each eevee form. He scanned the area, spotting plenty of things. A pokemon groomer, a booth for adoptions, and even one selling evolution stones.

"Why not have pups yet? Most pokemon are raised by trainers. You know, in the battling lifestyle."

Seth kneeled down and rubbed her cheek. "We'll talk later." He whispered.

Sky was in the grassy field, being swarmed by little eevee. Eevee were usually small, but these were only pups. Pokemon, like humans, were born small. Unlike animals, pokemon never hatched in litters, though eggs were often laid more than one at a time. The biggest difference was the growth rate. Pokemon trumped even animals in that regard. In less than a week, pokemon were ready to battle, and in less than a couple months they were full size, generally speaking. Some species, like wailmer, took a bit longer, and others, like rattata, grew quick. As for passing down genetics, generally, the mother's species and the father's abilities were passed down, though sometimes the father's species or the mother's abilities would carry over. One thing about pokemon that was very unique, was that they never crossed DNA. There were no hybrid species. The pup of an absol and lucario would either be a riolu or absol, with no in between. It might have a move or two different, but genetically, it would be impossible to determine the parents.

Sky was lying on her back, with the pups climbing all over the espeon. She occasionally teased a few with her tails, while another one chewed on her ear. Seth saw this, and bit his lip. He looked away, exploring the fair until she finished.

"What time is it?" Soul asked.

"Let's see..." He pulled out his dex. "2."

"We should get moving then."

He wanted to ask about her plan, but it was too crowded to be having a conversation. He looked over just in time to see Sky coming over, panting a bit.

"They have a lot of energy." She said.

"It looked like it. Anyways, Soul is complaining about being late for whatever." Seth said.

"Exactly." Soul said. "Let's move it."

They were only a bit out of Hearthome, and Soul quickly took the lead, guiding them through the city, occasionally stopping to look at signs. They passed by the mart, the pokemon center, a church, and the gym. The town itself was as large as Veilstone, but it was far less industrial. It was more homely, like it would be a pleasant place to live. Eventually, they came to a large domed building, and Soul seemed to have found what she was looking for.

"The contest hall?"

"So here's the deal. You just stand there and look pretty while I work my magic." She said.

Seth sighed. "Okay, fine with me." They went inside, walking up to the counter. "I'd like to sign up for the next contest."

"May I see your trainer card?" He handed it to the receptionist. "First time... You're in luck. Tryouts are today. We start in one hour. You are welcome to use any of our facilities here. My apologies. normally we would offer you a tour, but we are rather busy today."

"That's fine. I'll figure it out." Seth said, heading for the back. Now in the dressing area, he looked around. He tried to recall all he saw on TV. Contests were the big show all over the world, and the backstage stuff was a part of it. "Okay, grooming, dress up and rehearsals. Soul?" He looked down at her. She looked excited. "Why the sudden interest? I mean, we had a chance a while ago, but you never wanted to then."

"Well, I didn't know what contests were then. But last night I saw a show about tryouts, and the pokemon looked so cool! Then I saw a commercial for tryouts here, and..."

"Okay then. The groomer is in there. I could do it, but they're a professional." He explained. Soul had only groomed herself after getting wet from the gym battle, and she didn't look her best. They walked that way, into a pokemon salon. Soul hopped up onto the table, laying down as a man came over.

"Any requests?" He asked.

"Uhh, sleek?" Seth said.

"I think I got it." He opened a draw, taking out a pair of scissors and a comb.

Seth was thankful that he wasn't charged. Contests were a big business, but like training, there was little or no charge to the participants. All the revenue came from viewers and marketing. Though he probably wasn't going to get paid for this, as it was only tryouts.

The job the hair dresser did for Soul would have cost a lot. She had been given the works. Her fur was straight as a razor, smooth and shiny all the way down. Her mane had been trimmed down greatly, now looking like a heart puffed out on her chest. It bobbed with her every move and breath. Her head fur, the stuff that resembled hair, had been curved and now covered one eye partially.

"Wow, you look great." Seth said. "Now to get dressed up." They went back outside and across the hall. Inside, they were shown to a room, a private one, separated by a wall. Inside, there was a massive closet, containing mounds of clothes and accessories. "I guess I need to get dressed up too..." Seth reached down and took a plastic wrapped suit off the shelf. He tore into it, sliding off his clothes and putting it on. He looked back for a tie, but looked in the mirror first. He decided to go without one. "Damn, I forgot how uncomfortable these things are." He tugged on the neck of it.

"So you said you would talk about pups." Soul said.

"Oh... Well, first of all, I don't want to raise a kid like usual. If a human and pokemon have a child, it'll be a hybrid, but what happens if a hybrid and a pokemon have a child? If my abilities are passed down... But that doesn't have anything to do with it. I don't want our kids to be raised to fight."

"I agree with that. But... I know there's more to it than that. You don't have to..." Sky said.

"I should..." He muttered. "I really hope nobody can hear us." He thought aloud. He took a few deep breaths. "I still... Heart, Blade, and Crescent." He covered his eyes with his hands. "I don't think I'll ever forget that."

"Hey, no crying." Soul said. She pushed his chin up with her horn. "You'll mess up your suit." He could tell that wasn't what she was concerned about.

He sniffled and swallowed. "Right. Let's get you decorated."

"It's not your fault." Sky said, placing a paw on his shoe.

"It's not about fault. The fact that it happened is enough." He and Soul went over to the closet.

"Okay? How does that look?" Seth asked. "Fashion isn't really my strong suit..."

Soul admired herself in the mirror. She had a small black blow tied around the base of her horn. A silky white cape was on her back, almost matching her fur, and all of her body had been sprinkled with sparkle powder, putting a twinkle in her coat. "I would have gone with a maid outfit, but that would have been too sexy." She turned in place. "Though this is good too."

"You'll knock 'em dead." Sky said.

"Now for the plan-"

"I got it. You just stand by and look pretty." Soul said.

"Sometimes I wish you weren't so skilled so I could be an actual trainer." Seth said.

"And be normal? I don't think so." She said.

He took another look in the mirror, and delved back into the closet. He emerged a short time later with a top hat, a cane, and a fake mustache, not large enough to be comical. "There, a gentleman and his lady, out on the town. That'll be our act."

"First up, we have Tommy and Poochy!" The announcer called. A kid wearing a baseball cap and loose clothes, with a poochyena came out, waving to the crowd. Both he and his pokemon had on sunglasses.

"Second, we have Rebecca and Flora!" A women with a roselia came out, stopping to curtsy in center stage. Rebecca had a flower in her hair, and Flora had a tiara of multicolored leaves.

"Third, we have Daniel and Bolt!" A man wearing a lab coat and thick glasses came out. At first, Seth didn't see his pokemon, but as he turned, Seth spotted the magnemite. It was floating in front of its trainer, where his necktie would be.

"And fourth, we have Seth and Soul!" Seth perked up and began to walk, Soul right next to him. He kept his head and shoulders higher than usual, while putting some weight on his cane, occasionally twirling it. Soul was right behind him, strutting along. They walked to the center, where Seth stopped to lean on his cane and tip his hat. Soul sat briefly, raising her head and swishing her hair. They then turned and took their place.

"And here as our judge, all the way from Hoenn, STAR! That's right, the Star is here looking for talent. So give her your best!"

"Star?" Seth muttered. He looked over to the judge booth and saw her. "Wonder if she remembers us."

The first contestant stepped forward, along with his hound. "Let's get 'em Poochy." He said. The pokemon barked. The pokemon took center stage, still wearing its sunglasses. It hopped into the air, doing a back flip and howling to the sky. As it did, its sunglasses flew off. Tommy tried to catch them, barely managing after fumbling a bit.

Next up was Rebecca. She picked up her roselia, and began to twirl around in a dance with it, her dress waving through the air. As they spun, Flora began to release pink flower petals that spun along with them, a sweet scent accompanying it. Their performance went off without a hitch.

Daniel and his magnemite, Bolt, stepped forward. He looked down and fixed his glasses. Bolt detached and began to spin around him. He took off his jacket in a flash, tossing it into the air, accompanied by puff of sparkle powder. Bolt sparked and vaporized the coat with electricity. The electricity hit the sparkle powder, which was apparently conductive, as it sparked with electricity as it fell to the ground.

Now it was Seth's turn. He strolled forward, tapping his cane casually. "Milady?" He offered his hand to Soul. She shook her head and walked past him. Using both paws and her horn, she delivered three precision dark cuts to the air, creating a shiny black star in midair. She then jumped through it, causing it to burst, scattering darkness all over. She raised her head, howling into the air, while still coated in streaks of darkness. As they quickly faded, she turned back, offering her paw to Seth. He smiled, coming over and taking her paw. They then separated and returned to their place.

Star, one of the biggest celebrities, stood from the judge stand, clapping her hands. She had on a fluff fringed shirt and skirt. She had long, unnaturally red hair, which fit her true identity as a latias perfectly. "You all did wonderful. But, I have to pick a winner. Tommy, your outfit was perfect for your style, but your actual performance could use some work. Howl alone isn't too much of a showstopper. Rachel, your dress and performance were both good, especially with the use of smell. But, they didn't really match up. With the flowers, I expected something more natural than a dance. Daniel, while you did a good job, you have to play to the strength of the judge to win their vote. Seth, I love the outfit, and you're a perfect match for each other, and your act. The act itself was pretty good, and I especially like how your pokemon was the lead. So... I'm going with Seth."

A pair of confetti balls burst open above them, raining their contents down on the contestants. "Damn right we won." Soul bragged.

"And Seth, I'd like to talk with you backstage."

"So what have you been up to?" Star asked once they were in private.

"You remember me?" Seth asked.

"Pretty hard to forget somebody like you." She said, her body glimmering as she turned into a pokemon. She wasn't a hybrid like Seth, merely using her immense psychic power to disguise herself. Her image straightened, revealing her in her true form, a latias.

"Well, uh... we came to Sinnoh and are hitting the gyms. Soul wanted to do this though, so we took a break."

"That's nice. I've been on the usual routine, travelling all over the world, you know. I'm here for the contest master rank competition next week. I'm a judge for it. So I thought I'd pass the time doing a little talent scouting. Gotta say, never thought I'd see you again."

"Same. In person at least. There is one thing that's been bugging me. You said Mewtwo was way older than you, like 600 something. But I did some snooping and found out she's like 30 at most. And that she was created by humans."

"What?!" Star exclaimed. "She's not Mew's sister? You sure? Why didn't she ever tell me?"

"I would assume she's not too happy about it. The people who made her were trying to clone Mew."

"Wait, so you know Mew?" Soul asked.

"Huh? Yeah! Do you? Does Mew exist?" Seth asked excitedly.

"Of course she does. Well, not the human one. The one from Originism, that Mew I don't know."

"Oh, I understand. I'd like to meet her some day." Seth said.

"And how's Mewtwo been doing? I haven't seen her for a while." Star asked.

"As mysterious as ever. I wouldn't call us friends or anything."

"Anyways, Soul, you look great!" Star cheered, the feathered dragon floating over and taking hold of Soul's cheeks.

"Thanks. Must be really easy to put on a good show when you can manipulate visuals. Contests are a lot more work than I expected."

Star's human form appeared behind her and hopped onto her latias form's back. "Yep. Though not many other psychic types could pull it off." The human shimmered and vanished.

"Hey, so I heard that a pokemon called Regigigas was killed. Know anything?"

"That another legendary? Never heard of him. But if someone killed a legendary... We all have some kind of purpose or representation. I, and my brother Latios, represent light refraction, color in other words. Our feathers..." She reached down and plucked one out, tossing it into the air. It turned several colors as it floated down, before vanishing completely. Usually, there's always a legendary of each type. We just kinda showed up after my parents died. I don't remember them at all, but we found evidence of them, and previous generations where we were born. As far as I know, we're the only pair of lati living right now. But if a legendary was killed, they couldn't breed, then their species would cease to exist..."

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's only a rumor." Seth said, trying to calm her fears.

"Well, I'm done with contests." Soul proclaimed. "The dressing up and makeovers are fun, but all that effort for a quick little thing? I'm out. Back to gyms."

"If you ever get the urge to perform again, find me so I can vouch for you. Endorsements go a long way in this sport."

"So, to the pokemon center?" Seth asked.

"Nope. Gym." Soul said. They had reunited with Sky in the lobby, as she had to go to the stands to watch. Now they were outside. "I need some excitement."

"It's kinda late..." Seth said. "Sky?"

"Actually, I'd like to." She said.

"Oh, well okay then." Seth shrugged. "Let's do it."

"And can I be the headliner? As in Soul goes first." She asked.

"Well, Soul's super effective here, but if that's what you want."

"And if I don't beat 'em all first." Soul bragged.

They entered the gym, which was different from the rest. All of them had their own little flair, but this one had that flair in the reception. The inside was dimly lit, with blue candles and torches providing the small amount of light. Numerous paper cutouts of ghost types hung from the ceiling, casting creepy shadows along the walls.

They arrived at that golden hour late in the day, just before closing when no one else was there. They got right in to see Fantina.

" _Bonjour_. Wonderful to meet you. Fantina" She said with an accent and a flourish of the hand. "Pardon my French, just an old habit." She let out a quick chuckle at her own joke. She was dressed in a starry purple dress, with purple hair to go along with it. Her hairstyle was quite weird however, being four balls extending behind her head/

"Hi, Seth. What are the rules here?" He asked. The room was dimly lit, more torches on the walls. He was sure that a camera was somewhere, but there was no live audience.

"Well, I use a fixed number of pokemon. Otherwise, anything goes. _Tout va._ "

"That's fine by me. Soul?" The absol nodded and stepped forward.

"How many pokemon do you have?" She asked.

"Two."

"Loony!" Fantina called to the ceiling. A drifblim floated down out of the darkness, coming to rest on her side of the field. "Whenever you're ready. _Après vous_."

"This should be quick." Soul said. She stretched her limbs one by one. She sprinted forward, swinging her horn in a big arc to attack the drifblim. The pokemon hardly moved. It seemed like it tried to float out of the way, but it was far too slow. Soul gave him a powerful night slash, right across his rotund body. Loony went flying back, letting out a whistling sound as he slumped to the ground.

Soul smirked and relaxed her clenched muscles. "See? Easy."

Loony reached a ribbon arm down, pulling a Salac berry out of nowhere, and putting it in his X shaped mouth. Soul's smile faded and she readied another attack. But this time, Loony shot forward, flailing his arms in an acrobatic attack. This time, Soul was the one who was too slow. She was caught off guard by the sudden burst of speed. She got whipped a few times, before she turned her paw over, and delivered a powerful uppercut with her claws. This sent Loony flying into the air. He landed on his head, before falling over.

"That shit stings." She muttered.

Fantina whistled, and a new pokemon appeared. A gengar floated up out of the floor. He picked up Loony and carried him away, before returning to fight. Both he and Soul went for each other at the same time. She swung her horn to unleash a night slash, while Gengar charged up a focus blast. They both dodged, at the same time, her jumping over and him fading away. Soul looked around, before spotting a faint blur and going for it. She pounced on it, Gengar reforming under her. She reared back and delivered a point blank night slash. Afterwards, she pushed the Gengar off the field.

" _Très bon_." Fantina cheered. "Just one pokemon left."

"Only three?" Seth asked. She only smiled back. "Alright, Soul, come on back."

"Already?!" She complained.

"It's my turn." Sky said.

"Alright, just for you." Soul pranced off the field and to Seth's side.

"Well that shoots a hole in my plan." Fantina muttered as the espeon took the field.

Seth heard this and smiled, looking down to hide it. Even with Soul's skill and type advantage, those first two had been too easy. Fantina was probably figuring out Soul's strength, and then would use her strongest pokemon to beat her. And based on what she just said, it was probably a one time trick. So she would either use it now and improvise with Soul, or try to beat Sky first. Even knowing she had a type disadvantage, Sky seemed pretty sure of herself.

Fantina's final pokemon, a mismagius, materialized on the field.

"Alright Sky. Show 'em what you got!" Seth cheered.

"No pressure. I'll mop up if you don't." Soul said.

But Sky was in the zone, and didn't hear them. She had one single goal. Get stronger. Nothing like a little adversity to force that. Her opponent started off, charging and launching a shadow ball. Sky's ears splayed out as she formed a protect, causing the ball to explode harmlessly in midair. Mismagius continued the assault, firing another. Sky was unable to defend again, this time using Psychic to deflect the ghostly energy. It swung to the side and hit the ground. Sky's blue gem glowed, and a spiral shaped beam of psychic power shot out at Mismagius.

The ghost type disappeared, dodging the attack before reappearing a few feet to the side. She formed and fired another shadow ball. Sky's eyes glowed the moment it fired. The ball stopped for a moment, before firing back and crashing right into Mismagius' face. This caught her by surprise and made her flinch, giving Sky the chance for a follow-up attack. She began to focus another psychic attack, but something distracted her. Her head shot to the side, a trail of dust kicking up along her sight line.

"What is it Sky?" Seth asked.

"There was..." She said, her head shooting the other way. "Who's there?" She asked. She didn't have any more time to try and find out, as Mismagius was back on the offense. Sky dove to the side, dodging the incoming ball, and focusing her powers again.

"Miss, miss, miss..." Two voices chanted quietly on either side of her. She ignored them as best she could, but the distraction weakened her attack.

Mismagius shook off her influence, and prepped a new attack, a ball of flame forming in front of her. The fire shot out, and Sky formed a protect just in time. The attack exploded against the shield, scattering mystical flames around. A couple of them stopped in midair, as if they landed on something. Sky noticed this and leaned her head down. The moment the protect faded, she fired a psybeam, and jumped in the air while spinning. The beam fired out in a circle, stopping just short of going off the field. She hit two things, neither of them her opponent. Two haunter appeared out of nowhere as they got hit, and they quickly retreated off the field.

"What the?!" Seth asked. "Are you chea... ting..." He stopped talking as everything went black, before turning into a mess of tie-dye.

"HAGH!" Sky cried out. The air around Mismagius shattered like glass, accompanied by her crying out and falling to the ground. A moment later, Sky collapsed too.

"Sky!" Seth yelled, running onto the field and kneeling beside her.

"I'm..." She panted. She shakily rose, before falling again. This time he caught her before she hit the ground. "I overdid it." She said weakly.

"What on earth was that move?" Fantina asked as she came over. "I've never seen anything like that. It was almost like a spectacular contest move."

"And you!" Seth said. "What were those other pokemon doing on the field?!"

"Ahh, my gimmick. You see, I always use six pokemon. I only battle with one more than the opponent and the rest are on the sidelines, doing ghostly mischief. No attacking for them."

"Oh... If the league allows it..." He muttered. He noticed her hand outstretched in his peripheral. He turned to find her offering a badge.

"You, and your pokemon, did marvelously. I do hope she's alright..."

"She's okay. She just overexerted." Soul said, though Fantina couldn't understand her.

"Alright." Seth said. He rose to his feet and reached for his pack, but stopped once he got his hand around her ball. Even unconscious, they both hated their balls. If she woke up inside... He kneeled back down and picked her up again, carrying her laid sideways over his arms.

"What was that friggen' move?" Seth complained. "I've got every single psychic type move and every move an espeon can learn, and none of them match up." He sat his dex down and looked at Sky. She was still snoozing soundly, a small grin on her face.

"It was powerful for sure." Soul said.

"That's exactly why I wanna know what it was." He picked up his dex and began to browse again.

"Did I win?" Sky suddenly asked.

Seth reached over and pet her head. "Yeah, you did it. What move was that at the end?"

"I have no idea." She took a deep breath. "I got the idea when I was watching contest highlights in the lobby. So I put my everything into a move, and that's how it turned out."

"I see..." He began to type with a finger. A few minutes later, he said, "Got it! It matches up perfectly with these things called Z-moves. They're recently discovered and only in the Alola region right now. And they require stuff like mega evolution. A bracelet for the trainer and a crystal for the pokemon. Then it super charges the move. You didn't eat a gem or something, did you?"

"Not that I know of... maybe it's possible, but takes a toll on the user. Like your mega evolutions."

"No... we still need the gem. Soul ate one and its part of my DNA. If it was possible without, it would have been discovered a long time ago."

"One way or the other, I would like to take a bath." She started to get up, but her limbs refused to hold her weight. Seth stood up, crossed the bed and picked her up.

"C'mon you." He took her into the bathroom and set her down in the tub. He went over and started the water, kneeling outside to allow her plenty of room.

"Alright... so I think I know how I can do it." She said. "But you have to promise me. Don't tell Soul."

"Okay..."

"I woke up last night, and there was a shooting star outside. So I wished to get stronger. I think it worked."

"Why not tell Soul? She won't judge."

"Because I wanted to be strong, but I didn't work for it." She sounded sad. "You both work so hard, and then I just got stronger for free."

"Well, first of all, I couldn't care less how you did it. As long as we're all safe, I'm fine. Second, you don't have to be strong. I love you no matter what." He rubbed one of her ears.

"I'm sick of being the weak link. I didn't do anything against Crasher Wake, and I've always been the weak one. Even if you don't care, I do."

"That's alright. Whatever makes you happy. Be right back." He left and came back with a small bottle in hand. "I've been saving this for something special for a while now." He popped it open, and dumped it into the water. The water was only up to her chin, while lying down, so she could comfortably rest. Nothing happened until Seth reached down and stirred the water, causing bubbles to form. Along with them, a pleasant scent rose from the tub.

Sky let out a relaxed sigh and stretched out a little more. "Is this how you feel when you mega evolve?"

"Yeah, pretty much. It get's easier the more you do it though." He reached down and began to massage her shoulders. She let out a purr.

"Bathes are so relaxing~ I don't know why Soul hates water so much."

"When I'm an absol, I always get hot. Their coats are so thick and the water probably weighs it down pretty bad. Though I can just brush her out and dry her off afterwards..."

"I'd make that trade any day." Her body twitched as he hit a sore spot. "You know, you could join me."

"No, I'd take up too much room." He said, rubbing down her body. He stopped at her rear, rubbing at the base of her tail and down the length of it before returning to the start.

"If you were smaller..." She said, implying a lot.

"Fine, just because you fought hard." He said. He got into the tub, standing at the end of it where there was room. His body rapidly shrank and brown fur sprang from his skin.

She let out an "aww" as she saw his tiny eevee form. He climbed forward onto the nearly three times larger evolution. Thanks to his tiny frame and light weight, he was able to climb over her back without causing her discomfort. "I never get tired of how cute you look." She said in a cutesy voice. Her tail came back and intermingled with his bushy one. He leaned forward, using his paws to knead at her shoulders and upper back, occasionally batting or playing with the tip of an ear. As much as he hated this form, he couldn't help but smile at her enjoying this.

"The worst thing about this is the size. It's so disorienting to be so tiny. And these stubby legs don't help either." He twiddled his paw for emphasis.

"Well maybe it's not for combat. You are just too damn cute, so you can't avoid that form forever."

"Then I'll save it as a reward for you."

"And I assume Soul operates on a different reward system?"

"Well duh. I doubt this form would do much in that department."

"Don't be so harsh on yourself. She appreciates a cute little guy just as much."

He padded around and began to massage her lower back. As he rubbed his paws into her back, her flexible tail came down and poked at his head. He backed up a bit and playfully batted at it, causing her to laugh. He then went back to petting, allowing her tail to mingle with his ears.

"Do you ever think about all this? I mean, what are the odds that everything in our lives has worked out in exactly this way?"

"I dunno."

"Of all the pokemon, you met us, and you are one of a very few unique people. It's crazy that everything has worked out the way it has, ups and downs alike."

"Life's pretty crazy." He said, sounding philosophical.

"HEY!" Soul yelled from outside. "Come check this out!"

"Oh well. It was a nice bath." Sky said. She suddenly stood up, forcing Seth to clutch onto her back and ride or fall to the floor.

"Woah!" He cried, holding her short fur for dear life. She climbed out of the tub, hopping onto the towel he had placed earlier. She padded around a bit, before departing the bathroom and going back into the main room. She was dripping water off her belly fur, but it was only water. It couldn't hurt the carpet too much. She stopped alongside the bed, allowing Seth to jump off and onto the bed. But his freedom did not last long, as Soul grabbed him and dragged him in front of her, holding him with her paws. He squirmed a bit but quickly relented.

"Hey fluffs." She teased, pointing at the TV. "Check it out."

"This kind of thing is pretty rare. We've certainly got some potential with this one."

"Yeah, he beat five gyms in a week, or maybe two. He only lost once, and that was against Maylene. That glass jaw could be a problem, but he's got some tough mons with him."

"And in freakin' Pastoria, the guy beat Crasher Wake without even showing up! His pokemon alone are monstrous."

Seth smirked. "Looks like we made the trainer spotlight." They were watching the pokemon training channel, where interesting battles were featured and tips were given. They were currently running a look at up and coming trainers. His trainer stats, featuring Soul, Sky and a vaporeon, were on screen too.

"We're big time now." Soul bragged, playing with Seth's poofy ears.


	19. Chapter 18: Solaceon

Seth the Hybrid

Soul the Absol

Sky the Espeon

Chp 18: Solaceon

"We're taking the long way back." Seth said. "Solaceon, to Celestic, across the mountains, Eterna, Floaroma, Jubilife, and then finally Canalave."

"Uhh why?" Soul asked.

"Sightseeing I guess. And it'll give us a break from gyms."

"I don't need a break."

"I think we do. Sky's out and needs practice with her new move. And the next gym is gonna suck. It's steel type, which means both of you have a disadvantage."

"Fine, if that's what you think boss." She joked.

They got on the road, leaving to the east before the path curved upwards. They didn't encounter anybody looking for a fight, especially with his recent appearance on trainer spotlight. There were only two points of interest on the route, a tower that was a combination pokemon sanctuary and graveyard, and the old ruins of the previous tower. Both places were hotspots for ghost pokemon and thus Seth had little interest in exploring them.

"Why are you so scared of ghost types?" Soul asked. "They're just pokemon, like any other."

"I wouldn't call it fear. Call it healthy suspicion." Seth said. "Ghost types do some wierd shit."

"Unhealthy suspicion is more like it."

They soon arrived in the small town of Solaceon. The place was mostly a rancher town, and the biggest ranch was the pokemon daycare. The place was huge, serving tons of purposes. It was primarily a place for trainers to leave their pokemon, where they would be trained and potentially bred. They also trained and raised their own pokemon, for many purposes. They were one of the biggest suppliers of moomoo milk and regular animal products in Sinnoh.

"Oh hey~" Soul called when she saw the sign. "I remember the fun times I had at my old daycare."

"I'll bet you do." Sky snickered.

"You know, I was expecting a lot more. There's a difference between a small town and a nothing town." Seth said.

"HELP!" A cry echoed through the town.

"You asked for it." Soul said.

"Where did it come from?" Seth asked.

"What was that howl?" Somebody nearby asked to the person next to them.

"You hear them? It must have been a pokemon." Sky said.

"Come on." Seth said, heading for the woods east of town. The western area of town was comprised purely of ranches and farmland, and thus poor for hiding. They snuck away into the cover of the trees, allowing Seth to turn into a lucario. The two aura sensors on his left side rose up. He sampled the aura of the surrounding environment, as far out as he could. There was a massive amount of living things nearby, but he was looking for the stressed ones. There were too many to be absolutely sure, but he decided to go for the most pain, further away from town. While this method was excellent for range, it had several downsides. Aura sensing could only sense life energy, thus he could only sense the direction and distance. To get an accurate reading and focus in on that one life form, he had to close his eyes, making him likely to trip over rocks or fallen trees. While aura could be used to feel emotions, they were dull and muted. The life force he was tuned in on was strong, but fading. It was very angry, enough that he could sense it. While plant life appeared to him, humans, animals and pokemon were much brighter, with stronger life force. The target was out of the forest, as only a small cluster of other lives were around it. It was also elevated, higher up than they were.

At their sprinting pace, they closed in quickly, but reached a rock wall. "Shit. Sky? Can you do anything? I don't want to cause a cave in breaking through."

She closed her eyes, her face scrunching up in effort. "Think I found an entrance. This way!" She yelled, charging to the right. They were right behind her. After a bit, they found a old stairwell leading up into a cave. The cave was filled with ancient ruins, set in a maze like pattern. With a combination of Sky's precognition and Seth's aura sensing, they bolted through the ruins, soon coming across a strange sight. There was a typhlosion, lying in a pool of blood, and a circle of letter shaped pokemon floating around it.

Seth ran forward, kneeling down in front of the injured pokemon. "Are you okay?!"

"Do I look okay?" She growled.

"Hold on, I'll-"

"NO! Leave me behind! Go after them!" She demanded.

"Who?"

"GO!" She roared.

"Fine. We'll figure it out." He muttered. "Sky?"

"I'm on it." She said without him even having to give an order.

He turned human again and set his pack down before turning lucario again. "There should be medicine in there. Soul, with me."

"Right."

The lucario and absol bolted off, leaving the espeon with the bleeding typhlosion.

"So what's going on?" Sky asked.

"I finally caught those motherfuckers in the act, but one pulled a gun. Fucker." The typhlosion growled.

"Okay, let's start from the top. Keep talking." Sky said, unzipping the pack and digging around for potions.

"Names Tiff. You hear about the daycare center being robbed?"

"I believe so." Sky said. She found a standard potion, and pulled it out to apply before looking for something stronger. She pushed it in front of Tiff. "Where are you hurt?"

Tiff rolled over onto her back and pointed a paw at the center of her blood stained chest. "Got shot right here."

Sky bit her lip. The potion would stop the bleeding, but pokemon medicine only did so much. With that much blood loss, she needed to go to the hospital. A blue field covered the potion, the plunger being pushed down as the healing spray shot out prematurely. Sky quickly manuvered it into place to spray on her wound. Moving things with psychic was difficult, as it created a lot of pressure. She couldn't pick up anything without it being crushed. Things like glass and living things were out of the question, but the plastic bottle was okay. She could hold back the pressure, but that took a lot more energy to do.

Tiff grit her teeth until the potion ran out and Sky went back to find another. "Damn those things burn. Well those assholes have been robbing the daycare center. They got caught a while ago, but they got away and keep coming back. I've been chasing them around for a while now. They're using this cave to get to Veilstone and I set up an ambush, but this."

"You know a lot of human stuff. Are you a trainer pokemon?"

"Kinda. We can talk about that one later. Let's just say I work with the daycare."

Seth and Soul were sprinting down the path, trying to catch up with whoever. Seth could feel two lives up ahead. They came around a corner and spotted two men, both wearing ski masks, going down a set of stairs.

Seth and Soul exchanged a look, before sneakily moving in. Seth kept his aura on, focusing on them. If he still had the full power of aura, he could have encased them in a dome or something, but the most he could do was an aura sphere. Maybe if he-

His foot hit a rock, sending it flying and causing a noise to echo through the hall.

"Who's there?!" One of the men demanded. They both turned around, guns raised. One had a shotgun and the other a hunting rifle. Seth prayed that he was far enough away, but again, "Hey, get outta here 'cario." He threatened.

Seth started to take a step back, but the other one said, "Are you stupid? No witnesses." They were in a narrow corridor. Even with extremespeed, he wasn't invulnerable. Before Seth could react, a deafening boom shattered the air. Seth was suddenly thrown back, falling back onto the ground. There were three more shots. "No time to confirm, we have to keep moving."

Seth blinked a few times. He didn't feel hurt. Must have been his steel type skin. But there was a heavy weight on his chest. He looked down and froze. "S-S-Soul?" He asked. She was lying sideways across him, and there was a lot of red staining her fur. Without so much as a second thought, he mega evolved, picked up Soul, and began to run back with all his might, using extremespeed constantly, despite the considerable strain it but on his body.

"Okay, I think that's the best I can do here." Sky said. "You need to go to... What's that noise?"

"Pokemon center." Was all she heard as a blue blur shot by. Tiff vanished, leaving her all alone.

The automatic glass doors shattered as a mega lucario burst through them. He took the brunt of the broken glass, most of it bouncing off his skin. He was carrying two pokemon on his back, a bleeding absol and a typhlosion. He made it a few steps in, before collapsing.

Seth's eyes opened and he bolted up, his body screaming at him. He had used extremespeed for around twenty seconds straight. But that was the least of his concerns. He looked around to find himself in a pokemon hospital bed. He got up, turned human and walked out. He ached, but he wasn't in any real danger. He went to the nurse's station. "Absol?" He asked.

"Oh... You must be her trainer. Room 4. I'll send the doctor along."

He didn't like the sound of that. He went over to the room, opened the door, and stepped inside. "Soul?" He asked.

"She's still unconscious." Sky said. "It's only been about an hour. What happened?"

Seth came over and sat in a chair. Soul was lying on her belly, covered in bandages and hooked up to an IV of blood. "We got caught. It's my own fault... I wasn't paying attention."

There was a knock on the door, and a pink haired nurse in a white lab coat stepped in. "You must be her trainer." She said. Seth nodded. "I won't ask what happened." She looked away and bit her lip. "We... I'm so sorry, but we don't have enough donor blood. She's okay for now, but we need to get the bullets out of her. If we operate, she will bleed to death. But if we leave the bullets inside her, she may never be able to battle again."

"Dammit..." Seth muttered, putting his head in his hands. "Can't you get some from the daycare?"

"Not exactly. Pokemon blood types are very different from humans. They are based on species. We already checked for any other absol, and there are none. She's currently on ditto blood, the universal pokemon donor, but we don't have enough for the operation."

"Alright then. Use me." Seth stood and turned into an absol.

The nurse's eyes went wide and her mouth gaped. "I... okay. We'll start prep immediately."

"Doctor! The lucario in 23 is gone!" A nurse ran in yelling.

"It's alright. Prep for surgery."

Sky looked around until she found the typhlosion, Tiff. "You doing okay?" She asked as she came in.

"Huh? Oh, it's you. Yeah. I feel a lot better. The bullet went right through, but didn't hit anything important. Just a few stitches. What happened with your trainer?"

"He and Soul are in the emergency room right now."

"So uh, sorry for getting your friend shot."

"It's alright. We help people out for a living." Sky said with a smile.

They took three full bags of blood from Seth before sending him to the waiting room. Sky was already there, and he, still in his absol form, went over and sat next to her.

"So?" She asked.

"They won't take anymore of my blood." He muttered. "But they did say it was a perfect match."

"Relax. They're professionals."

"If anything goes wrong..." Seth clenched his paws, scratching the linoleum and making a god awful noise. "It all just happened so fast. She took the bullet, _bullets_ , for me."

"Of course she did. I would have done it too."

"But I don't want either of you getting hurt."

Sky giggled. "And you think it doesn't work the other way around? You don't always have to be the big strong man."

"You seem awfully calm."

"Soul is the toughest thing I know. It'll take more than that to slow her down."

"I know... but..."

They sat in the waiting room for well over an hour. Seth started out pacing, but his body was too tired, so he laid down on a bench, tapping his paws in impatience. After what felt like an eternity, a nurse came out, motioning for him to come over. He and Sky did, and she showed them back, into privacy.

"She's doing just fine. She had tons of bullet wounds, but we took care of it. We're gonna keep her here tonight, and see how she's doing in the morning."

"Is there anything else you can do?" Seth asked.

She shook her head. "Sorry, I can't understand you. You can see her if you want." Seth nodded enthusiastically. They were led back into a room, where Soul lay on a bed. She was hooked up to numerous devices and had a lot of bandages wrapped around her midsection. The nurse closed the door after they were in.

Seth turned human again and walked over to her. He put his hand on her paw. "You awake?"

"Yeah." She muttered, opening her eyes. "I feel high as a kite. Those painkillers are some good shit."

He smiled. "That was my next question. Sorry for-"

"Shut it." She ordered. "Did we save the typhlosion?"

"Yeah. Her name is Tiff." Sky said.

"That's good."

"Oh yeah. So those guys stole a bunch of pokemon from the daycare, and that's why Tiff was chasing them."

"Well, I know where we're off to next."

"What?! No. No more crazy stunts. My heart can't handle another scare like that." Seth said.

"First of all, you," She pointed a paw at him. "Were the problem. I can dodge a bullet. Second, we both know we can't just live a peaceful life. Danger is in our blood. Helping people too."

"Bu-"

"And another thing. You're fine with getting the shit beaten out of you, but what about us? We feel the exact same way as you do right now."

"I-"

"So here's what's going to happen. We're gonna go rescue those pokemon, and we're gonna come back unharmed. Now stop talking, I'm going to bed." She lowered her head and closed her eyes.

"She's right you know. We're a lot tougher than you give us credit for." Sky said.

"I know you're tough... it's just... My desire to keep you both safe is a lot stronger than helping others. If that means abandoning people in need..."

"Don't say that. We're here for a reason. You've got the powers you do for a reason. I didn't wish to be stronger so we could hide from evil! Remember why we came here? We've got to live our lives." She said, emotion sparkling in her eyes.

"Deep down, I know you're right. But that doesn't make it any easier."

"Shut the hell up." Soul groaned quietly.

Seth suppressed a laugh and sat down. His face turned grim quickly, as he began to think. These thoughts haunted him until he eventually fell asleep.

"So we leavin'?" Soul asked.

"You're not going anywhere until the doctor says so." Seth said.

"Says mr train through the pain."

"So sayeth he does. We're gonna go talk to Tiff. You just behave while we're gone."

"I feel fine." She complained, but he just waved as he and Sky left.

They crossed the area, going past the nurses' station and into Tiff's room.

"Hi Tiff. Now that we finally have a chance to talk, I'm Seth." He said, coming in. The typhlosion was out of bed, standing by the window and looking out.

"Well thanks for saving me. I already got the go ahead to leave. My wounds weren't too bad. I might have even survived if you hadn't of shown up." She said with a bit of venom in her voice.

"That's good." He said, deciding to ignore it. "Sky told me about your story. I was hoping to hear more."

"No need. I'm going to take care of things today."

"Huh?"

"You heard me. I'm going to Veilstone to save the kidnapped pokemon."

"You've got to be kidding. You can't go alone!"

"And who's gonna go with me? You?"

"Well that was the plan, if you can wait another day."

"Now who's the crazy one? Helping a girl you just met? You just trying to get lucky?"

"What?! No!" Seth spouted nervously. "Helping people's just what we do."

"Yeah, I'll bet. It's a lot harder than that to get with me. Even if you're a pokemon that can pretend to be human."

"Yeah, you got me on that last part. Just give us a day, then we'll come with."

"I'll meet you in the ruins tunnel tomorrow morning. Be late and I'll leave you behind."

"Alright." He and Sky left and went back to Soul's room, to find the doctor in there with her.

"Oh, it's good that you're here. I just changed out her bandages. She's healing well, and you all can leave any time. But keep her out of battle. No strenuous activity until she's fully healed."

"Okay." Seth nodded.

"And your secret is safe with me."

"Alright, so we're going with Tiff back to Veilstone. It would seem there's a shortcut in the ruins. Somebody, or even group, has been kidnapping pokemon, stealthily, from the daycare center, and Tiff caught on. So she's going to attack them. If we let her go alone, she'll just get killed. As much as I don't want to get into another shit show with an evil group, we can't just ignore it. So we're gonna take a trick from their book and keep this quiet."

"That's really all we have to go on?" Soul complained. "Seems like we're rushing into this."

"Yeah, I know." He sighed. "But it's been an ongoing problem and we just stumbled into it."

"I would guess it's small scale too. The daycare would notice something if a bunch of pokemon kept going missing." Sky mused.

"Or they're trying to hide it." Soul said.

"Doesn't matter. One pokemon getting stolen is enough. I just worry about why it's happening. What are they doing with the pokemon?" Seth said, getting a bit angry.

"Can't be good." Soul said.

"One way or the other, they do not have a problem killing. Careful takes priority." Seth said.

"Great, so when are we going?" Soul asked.

"Well... That's just it. You, are not going."

"AWW C'MON!" She groaned. "I feel fine already."

"No. Doctor's orders."

"You're just worried cause I saved your life."

"That too. You aren't exactly suited for sneaking. Between my aura and Sky's psychic, we can avoid a lot. And the smaller the group, the better."

She groaned even louder. "But I..." But the look in his eyes told her everything. He would never agree to let her come along. "Fine." She humphed and laid down. She tapped her paw on the bed. "Remote please."


End file.
